Tales of The Miraculous: Beowulf
by RexStellar
Summary: Ben had just moved to New York and is having a tough time adjusting. But that is the least of his problems when the Miraculous of the Wolf chooses him as its new Wielder along with it's unique power of two Kwamis and two alternate forms. Ben will need to create his own Wolf Pack to battle against his villain, Pangolin and his army of Pseudo-Miraculous
1. Alpha

Ben looked out the window of his parent's car at the congested traffic next to him, he sighed as his gaze drifted to the Statue of Liberty in the distance, it was covered by a light fog as was the water surrounding it. Ben stopped looking out of the window and took out his phone, he began texting someone by the name of Arnold:

_We're finally here, this place is really gloomy, kinda like me on my final day huh?_

_Ye, I coulda swore you had a rain cloud over your head all day_

_Lol you know you cried when my car disappeared into the sunset_

_Dude it was like midday when you left_

_LMAO, how have things been?_

_Well you left yesterday sooooo the entire dynamic of school has shifted_

_Seriously? How?_

_Considering after you left the school lost their resident WizKid, a lot of people have been clammoring for your spot as Top Nerd_

_HAHA! Keep me posted on the results_

_Will do_

Ben put down his phone just as his dad parked the car "Home Sweet Home" he stated as he turned off the car and got out "Ben, come help me unpack" Ben sighed and opened the door, he was immediately hit with a bitter cold gust of wind that made his teeth chatter "it was not this cold when we got here" Ben stated. Suddenly Ben was caught off guard by a particularly strong gust of wind that made him turn his head towards the end of the street "what the-" he uttered in response to what he saw. Ben locked eyes with what appeared to be a large wolf.

It's gaze made Ben freeze in place as time around them stopped, the wolf kept its gaze on Ben as it sniffed the ground and ran off into an alley nearby. A shout from his dad snapped Ben out of it and he assisted his dad with the luggage and they made it into their new apartment "here we are, man this place has some character to it doesn't it?" Ben's Dad stated with an agreement from his mother "I really like the wood flooring here". Ben's attention was focused on the stains in the corners of the ceiling, he rolled his eyes and said "hey dad, where's my room? I need to put away my stuff" his dad pointed to the right hallway "last door on the right, you've got the balcony room".

Ben opened the door to his room to find a sickly pink color all over the room "hey dad, did the previous tenant have a kid or something?" His dad responded "I believe she had a daughter around your age" Ben sighed and set his belongings down on the bed and looked at the desk in the room, it had a large mirror and an old computer chair "must've been where she did her makeup". Ben looked toward the balcony, it had dead leaves on the edges and the glass was dirty "this place keeps getting worse all the time".

Ben heard the call of his mom and came out of his room to find his family circled around a pizza "dinnertime" his dad said with an unrivaled confidence. Ben went over and opened the box, the pizza had extra cheese and pepperoni "handsome looking pizza" Ben stated with a laugh coming from both of his parents. Ben grabbed two slices and put them on a plate "if you guys don't mind, I'd like to eat in my room" his mom nodded before his dad could say anything, Ben walked back to his room "give him time to adjust, this is all new to him" his dad sighed "I know, but hey, he can make friends fast" his mom nodded "yes, he was the leader of his own little 'pack' back home".

Ben sat on his bed and began eating and looking at the goodbye texts he got from his friends, he finished his slices and dusted off his hands "that was really good pizza, the best thing that's happened since I got here". Ben looked out at the balcony and went towards it, he opened the door and stepped out. He leaned against the railing and looked out at the street, it was completely dead which was strange for New York. Ben looked at the alleyway the wolf he saw went into, Ben's heart skipped a beat as he saw the same wolf there "whoa" he uttered. The wolf called to him with a howl and it darted back into the alley, Ben felt compelled to follow it he went back inside and snuck out of the apartment.

Ben stood at the entrance of the alleyway where he saw the wolf, it looked directly at him, Ben finally saw how big the wolf really was, it was taller than him while on all fours. It ducked its head and disappeared behind a dumpster. Ben rushed over and looked behind the dumpster but nothing was there except a small jewelry box, Ben bent over and picked it up "huh, what's this doing here?" He opened it to see a magnificent necklace that was pure gold, it was embroidered with gemstones on either side with a large diamond on the clasp "whoa, this thing must be worth a small country". Ben was taken by surprise by the sound of footsteps coming into the alleyway.

Ben turned his head to see an elderly man walking into the alley, the man looked at Ben he had a cane that helped him walk "excuse me, young man I hate to interrupt whatever it is you're doing but, have you seen a jewelry box anywhere? It has a necklace in it and it's very important to me". Ben looked at the box in his hand, it was covered by the dumpster so the old man wasn't able to see it. The old man waited for a response with Ben giving a slight sigh and revealing the box "did it look like this?" The man's eyes lit up "oh my, there it is!" Be walked over and handed it to the man and he opened it "yes, this is it, thank you young man. How can I repay you?" Ben thought about it and responded "no need, doing the right thing is enough I think" the man nodded and went on his way.

Ben snuck back into the apartment without his parents noticing, back in his room he lied down and looked at the ceiling, the ceiling was tinted blue from the light coming from the balcony. Ben was about to drift off to sleep when a shadow invaded the light coming into his room, Ben shot up and scanned his room for any movement or something out of place, he noticed a strange outline on the desk, Ben got up from the bed and walked over to the desk. Ben felt around the edge of the desk to find a switch and flipped it, the lights around the mirror came on and Ben finally saw what it was. A small box was sitting there that wasn't there before, Ben picked it up, it had a design on it that was similar to the one that belonged to the old man. Ben opened up the box to see a bracelet, the bracelet in the form of blue and white wolves chasing their tails. The bracelet began to glow and two shining orbs emerged out of them creating two small flying creatures.

The two creatures opened their eyes to see Ben's shocked expression. One of the creatures spoke "brother, is this who we are to serve?" The other creature growled "it would seem so, brother". Ben stepped back in fear and amazement at the two floating creatures, they were dark blue with grey and white accents but in different patterns, the creatures floated towards Ben and began studying him. The more brash creature began criticizing Ben "skinny, clammy, weak in the knees, that old fool's judgement is as bad as his breath" the more calm of the creatures tried to reason with the other "calm yourself brother, we've had worse looking owners before". The brash one scoffed while the polite one began talking to Ben "hello, my name is Prowwl and this is my brother Sturnn we are Kwami and you are now our master, what is your name?" Ben calmed down and responded "B-Ben, Ben Williams".

Prowwl smiled "pleasure to meet you Ben, Sturnn, say hello" Sturnn growled "he's upset that we aren't with someone up to his standards, anyway, let's get you acquainted with your new position as Miraculous Holder, first let's get started, transform!" Ben looked confused "w-what?" Prowwl sighed "right, you're new to this, we haven't had an Owner for quite some time, so, in order to transform you must say one of our names and then 'Let's Hunt!' Try it with my brother, he needs to stretch his legs" Ben nodded but was hesitant "I don't think your brother likes me" Sturnn responded "just transform already so my brother can show you the ropes!" Ben shrugged and Prowwl guided him "the blue side is my brother so turn it so that and let it rip". Ben nodded and shifted the bracelet "Sturrn, Let's Hunt!"

Sturrn was suddenly sucked into the Bracelet and a costume rapidly enveloped Ben. Ben looked at himself in the mirror, his hair was blue with gis hair tips being white, his eyemask was dark blue and made his eyes green, there was a metallic muzzle strapped over his mouth, his costume was skin tight and was mostly dark blue but his chest and midsection down to his inner thighs was white, the chest part of his costume was made of white fur. Ben looked down to see shin boots in a darker shade of blue, he looked at his hands and saw claws jutting out of the fingers of his suit, he looked behind him to see a ponytail in the shape of a wolf's tail "whoa" Ben uttered "so, do I have a secret identity?" Prowwl laughed "we've gone by many names, what do you want our name to be?" Ben looked himself in the eye in the mirror and growled "Beowulf".


	2. Sting

Beowulf walked slowly towards the balcony "I'm a Superhero, like those guys in Paris everyone's obsessed over" Prowwl floated beside him "yes, the power of a Miraculous is something to behold, now let's stretch our legs" Beowulf nodded and opened the sliding door, he stepped onto the balcony and felt the breeze, the cold air was inviting this time, beckoning Beowulf to jump. Prowwl was about to speak but Beowulf just grabbed him, put him on his shoulder and uttered "Hang On!" He then lept off the balcony easily clearing the building across the street landing on another building parallel to it "okay, that was cool" Prowwl let go and dusted himself off "I can keep up with you if you must know, l do have to preface the tride and true saying of 'Look Before you Leap'" Beowulf scoffed a bit "Spider-Man said that it's a Leap of Faith" Prowwl made a 'hm' sound "modern reference, how quaint".

Beowulf breathed in but quickly regretted it as his nostrils were filled with the rotten stench of garbage "UGH, what was that?" Prowwl chuckled "you have super senses, especially your sense of smell so don't breathe in too hard next time" Beowulf went to the edge of the building and looked down to see a dumpster "of course there's a dumpster, ugh, something else stinks around here, kinda like, burning rubber" Beowulf began sniffing the air and then the ears on the top of his head pricked up "police sirens, burning rubber, a chase!" Beowulf howled into the sky and took off toward the chase with Prowwl following close behind.

Beowulf caught up to the chase in no time "man, this super speed is great!" Prowwl responded "if you get on all fours you can run even faster" Beowulf followed the advice and leaped onto the street, Beowulf finally spotted the chase "I see three guys in that car, probably armed" Beowulf picked up the pace and quickly got behind the car. One of the men looked behind the car to see Beowulf, with a panicked look on his face he began firing a handgun from out of the window at Beowulf, in one swift motion Beowulf dodged the gunfire and jumped onto the hood of the car "hey guys, did you know your tags are expired?" Beowulf quipped with the man in the passenger seat to respond by pulling his gun. Beowulf quickly kicked the gun out of the man's hand making it fly down the street.

Beowulf did a handstand on the grill and thrusted his feet into the pavement, chunks of asphalt flew in every direction as the car began to slow rapidly. Beowulf dug his heels in and lifted the car up into the air, the criminals inside stared in utter disbelief and fear, Beowulf then flipped the car upside down and set it onto the ground "m'kay guys, this is the end of the line for all three of you" the police stopped their cars only to get out and draw their guns at Beowulf "wow, rough crowd tonight huh? It's cool, I know when I'm not wanted" Beowulf leaped onto a building and made his getaway. Meanwhile in a parked limousine at the end of the street was skulking, within the limousine was a man with pale skin and a prepetual frown, the man began speaking to another person in the car "sir, the thugs I hired failed to retrieve the car, I accept full responsibility" the other person he was talking to stopped him "Jeffords, I don't pay you to apologize, you waste time with words, in the meantime, get Skiz out of jail and give him his stinger back" Jeffords nodded "right away, sir".

Beowulf sat on the edge of a building and looked on at the bright lights of the city "this city needs me" Beowulf said in a growl, Prowwl crossed his arms and looked at him "what? It does, doesn't it?" Prowwl sighed but noticed something on the street "look alive, we've got trouble" Beowulf looked down to see a crowd of people running from something "huh, if the Statue of Liberty's head goes flying we're so gonna get sued" Beowulf jumped from the building and onto the sidewalk, he stopped a woman running "hey, what's everyone running from?" The woman just pointed down the street and started running again "if the food's that bad on this street I recommend a prime pizza place just a couple of blocks away!" Suddenly a large presence landed behind Beowulf "that sounds loud, big, and not good for me" Beowulf slowly turned around to see a massive bipedal creature leering at him, it's yellow eyes glowed in contrast with the darkness around it. Beowulf looked the monster up and down, hit had a hard yellowish carapace, sharp mandibles, giant pincer claws, and a massive tail dripping with fluorescent green liquid. A slimy tongue creeped out of its maw and licked its mandibles "MEAT" the creature growled.

Beowulf backflipped away from the monster and prepared to fight "and here I thought this night would be boring" Beowulf charged at the monster, it tried to swipe at Beowulf but he jumped over the attack and spin kicked the beast, it reeled back but immediately recovered "armored, got it" Beowulf did a handspring and landed on it's shoulders. The beast immediately grabbed Beowulf with it's claws and slammed him into the pavement cracking it "maybe we got off on the wrong foot, my name's Beowulf, yours?" The creature snickered and responded "Skorpoxus". Skorpoxus lifted Beowulf by his arm, Beowulf thought quickly and donkey kicked Skorpoxus square in the jaw causing him to let go. Beowulf tackled Skorpoxus to the ground, he grabbed one of Skorpoxus' mandibles and began punching him repeatedly. Beowulf was so focused on giving Skorpoxus what for he didn't notice his tail being raised behind him until it was too late, Beowulf felt an excrutiating pain in his left shoulder, Beowulf began feeling dizzy and his vision began to blur "hehehe, the hero can't handle a bit of neurotoxin" Skorpoxus taunted, he then wrapped his tail around Beowulf's waist and whipped him into a building.

Skorpoxus then dragged Beowulf out and smashed him against the pavement "this was much easier than I thought, boss was freakin' out for nothin'" Beowulf gained a bit of his function back "boss?" Skorpoxus picked up Beowulf and got in his face "whoops, said a bit too much haven't I?" Beowulf's body felt like it was on fire, he could feel the blood moving in his body start to slow but he managed to utter out some words "hey, how dense is that skull of yours?" Skorpoxus became frustrated "you callin' me simple?" Beowulf laughed "yeah... but I also wanted to know before I did this!" Beowulf cocked his head back and struck Skorpoxus with his muzzle. Skorpoxus released Beowulf and stumbled back in pain "hey Prowwl, what other tricks do I got?" Prowwl answered "you've got a Sonic Howl" Beowulf's eyes lit up "nice" he got to his feet and breathed in deeply as the holes on his muzzle opened "Sonic Howl!" Beowulf unleashed waves of blue colored sound from his muzzle as his howl echoed across the city. Beowulf directed the howl towards Skorpoxus, the street began to crack and crumble, pieces of it went flying into Skorpoxus as he tried to hold his ground. Skorpoxus was no match for the soundwave as he was lifted off his feet and launched down the street and into a parked car. Beowulf stopped howling and caught his breath "that was more painful than I expected" suddenly the car Skorpoxus flew into exploded, the heat and force of the explosion made Beowulf's hair fly back and frizz up a bit.

Beowulf dusted off his shoulders but quickly fell to his knees "I guess that venom's still in my system" Beowulf's attention was caught by Skorpoxus emerging out of the wreckage, his expression was one of malicious aggression "any last words before I gut you?" Skorpoxus asked, Beowulf responded "humina humina humina comes to mind".


	3. Bitten

Skorpoxus picked up Beowulf with one if his claws and held him above his head "you've got some fight in ya, I like that" Beowulf looked at Skorpoxus and responded "so you respect me as an opponent?" Skorpoxus laughed "no, I like it when my food's got a little BITE to it!" Skorpoxus the cackled before he dropped Beowulf only to crack his tail against Beowulf's falling body, Beowulf slid across the street and when he finally stopped he was still limp "c'mon, fight!" Prowwl instructed him "I would if I could, but I can't, I can't even feel my own lips right now, how am I supposed to fight?" Prowwl answered "we have to find a way, or else this will be the end of our journey before it's even begun!" Beowulf fought with all his might to get up, he managed to move his arms and propped himself up. Beowulf began moving his legs and managed to get them underneath him and began to stand all while Skorpoxus taunted him and goaded him "c'mon hero, I need a good fight!" Beowulf finally stood up having combated the venom "don't worry, I'll give you enough fight to satisfy!"

Beowulf got on all fours and began writhing, Skorpoxus became frustrated "this is no fun anymore, I thought you'd be a challenge but I've been thrashing you, I don't wanna waste my time so I'm just gonna finish this!" He approached Beowulf but Beowulf counted on this and and from his downward position struck Skorpoxus with a vicious uppercut that sent them both upward. Beowulf spun in the air and dropkicked Skorpoxus away, Skorpoxus bounced along the ground but caught himself by thrusting his claw into the ground, by the time Skorpoxus regained his footing Beowulf was leaping towards him, Beowulf slashed Skorpoxus across the face with his claws causing Skorpoxus turn away, Skorpoxus jabbed at Beowulf with his tail but was caught in Beowulf's strong grip. Beowulf pulled Skorpoxus' tail causing the villain to lose his footing, Beowulf then swung Skorpoxus around and smashed him through a building.

Beowulf leaped into the building and narrowly dodged a tail stab, Beowulf did a handspring off the tail and put both of his hands together, he then slammed both of his fists onto the top of Skorpoxus' head, while Skorpoxus was kneeling Beowulf threw his leg back and flipkicked Skorpoxus through the ceiling. Beowulf looked into the hole he had made "hey Skorpy, did I hit you too hard?" Skorpoxus suddenly crashed down through the hole and tackled Beowulf bringing them both outside, Skorpoxus held Beowulf in a bear hug and tried to jab him with his stinger, Beowulf dodged the stings and wriggled his hands free, when the next jab came Beowulf grabbed the stinger "I hope this hurts!" Beowulf stated as he snapped off the sharp tip of the stinger. Skorpoxus howled in pain and threw Beowulf to the ground to inspect his tail.

Beowulf noticed Skorpoxus brought them to a park as bystandards watched and ran "get out of here, it's too dangerous!" Beowulf shouted at the crowd who followed his directions, Skorpoxus watched in horror as his venom seeped out of his tail "NO!" He shouted as fear became quite apparent on his face, he was outmatched. Beowulf twirled the tip in his fingers "oh right, this anatomically belongs to you, you can have it back" Beowulf threw the stinger tip and it impaled the middle section of Skorpoxus' tail making it go limp "must've hit a nerve". Skorpoxus lifted his tail and began laughing "this is great! I needed this, this kind of rush I haven't had since I got my powers!" Beowulf felt uneasy as the seams of Skorpoxus' muscles began glowing sickly yellow, his body started to expand and his stinger began to grow back "this is not good" Beowulf stated. Skorpoxus laughed maniacally "this shortens my life but MAN it feels good!" Skorpoxus finished transforming, yellow mist poured out of Skorpoxus' body seams, he started panting and growling like a wild animal "RHAAAGH" Skorpoxus uttered before charging Beowulf.

Beowulf dodged a claw swipe by leaping sideways but was blindsided by a heavy tail clubbing him into the ground "ow" Beowulf said weakly before Skorpoxus smashed him into the dirt further with his pincer. Skorpoxus grabbed Beowulf by the neck and dragged him across the ground before tossing him through a lamp post. While on the ground Beowulf grabbed the lamp post and began to stand, Skorpoxus leaped towards Beowulf but was struck with the lamp post and into a tree uprooting the entire thing. Beowulf put the lamp post down and asked Prowwl "do I have a weapon or something?" Prowwl responded "yes, I didn't think we needed it but looks like we do, it's on your belt" Beowulf looked down to see a silver baton-like object on his belt "huh, wonder how I didn't notice that" Beowulf took the object off his belt and saw a metal ball with spikes portruding out of it "a morning star?" Prowwl laughed "you think too simple, toss it and press the button, then point it towards the ball" Beowulf followed the instructions and a metal chain shot out of the baton and attached to the metal ball "whoa, a chain flail!" Beowulf did a small flourish with the chain but was distracted by Skorpoxus' roar which was followed by a running charge from the hulking arachnid. Beowulf reeled back the handle and snapped his hand forward, the ball and chain whipped forward and struck Skorpoxus in the jaw causing him to lose his footing and crash into the dirt, Beowulf dodged the rolling behemoth and began twirling the chain around striking Skorpoxus multiple times. Skorpoxus grabbed the chain and yanked it along with Beowulf, Beowulf landed on Skorpoxus' shoulders and tied the chain around his neck and began pulling.

The pulling caused Skorpoxus to lean back and Beowulf acted quickly, he lept off of Skorpoxus and went underneath him, he put his hands on Skorpoxus' back and leg and began to lift the monster. Beowulf lifted him above his head and roared before throwing the giant through a stone fountain causing water and stone to go flying, Beowulf breathed heavily "that won't take him down, this guy is tough" Prowwl responded "use your superpower" Beowulf looked at the Kwami "I have a superpower? Wasn't that the Sonic Howl?" Prowwl explained "that was A superpower, I'm talking about THE superpower, it's called 'Wolfsbane'" Beowulf repeated the word "Wolfsbane" blue energy suddenly encompassed his right hand and forearm and soon took the shape of a Wolf's Head.

Beowulf looked at his own hand "whoa, what does this do?" Prowwl answered "punch him and find out!" Beowulf nodded and began running towards Skorpoxus, Skorpoxus had just recovered when he was struck in the midsection with Beowulf's fist. Beowulf noticed that the wolf head had grabbed onto something and he began to pull, a small yellow orb was pulled out of Skorpoxus. Beowulf backflipped off of Skorpoxus and landed on his feet, he looked at the orb "what's this?" Beowulf asked with Prowwl responding "his main power, devour it!" Beowulf nodded "DEVOUR THE POWER!" Beowulf shouted before the Wolf Head bit down on the orb and infused itself with the power, Beowulf's costume became yellow as did his wolf hand "alright, this is new!" Prowwl responded "isn't all of this new, now hurry you're on a timer now!" Beowulf looked at the bracelet to see sections of the fur begin blinking "okay, so let's end this!" Beowulf aimed his arm at Skorpoxus and opened the jaw "Toxin!" Beowulf shouted, a stream of yellow venom ejected out of the mouth and into Skorpoxus' eyes causing him to reel back in pain.

Prowwl encouraged Beowulf "now, end it with one last decisive blow!" Beowulf nodded and began running towards Skorpoxus, Beowulf got right in front of Skorpoxus, he reeled back his fist and struck Skorpoxus in the midsection, the blow caused nearby windows to shatter from the shockwave as an explosion from Beowulf's fist launched Skorpoxus into the pavement making a massive crater that led all the way to Skorpoxus' smoking body. Beowulf's costume returned to normal and the Wolf Head dissipated. Beowulf walked over and inspected him "down for the count" Beowulf checked his pulse to make sure he was still alive, he then noticed a broach on Skorpoxus' chest. Beowulf removed the broach and Skorpoxus suddenly turned human "whoa, this thing's a Miraculous, I've seen this guy on the news, this guy's a killer they caught a month ago, Skiz I think" Beowulf looked at the Miraculous in his hand "this thing doesn't have a Kwami, but it did give him powers, it might be some kind of knock off" Prowwl began thinking "I've seen these before, people have always tried to emulate the powers of the Miraculous but to no avail, but this is the closest to the original I've ever seen".

Beowulf heard police sirens approaching fast "uh oh, we better split" Beowulf looked at his whip chain and got an idea, he whipped it towards a lamp post and it hooked onto it "time to swing!" Beowulf exclaimed as he began swinging and hookig to assorted structures. Beowulf landed on his balcony and transformed back "that was so...cool!" Ben exclaimed with Sturnn and Prowwl nodding in agreement "you did good out there, green horn" Sturnn stated "yes, I believe you have a bright future ahead of you as a Miraculous Wielder, in the meantime, I can sense my brother and I are hungry, do you have any meat by any chance?" Ben thought about it "I think I've got something, he went into his bag and pulled out a bag of beef jerky, he opened the bag and the two Kwamis were lured by the smell. Ben grabbed two pieces and fed the two, Ben then walked out onto the balcony and leaned against the railing "this city keeps getting better and better".


	4. Wolf Pack

Ben slowly woke up to the alarm of his phone "oh man, school" Ben sleepily uttered out. Prowwl and Sturnn emerged from under his pillow "ah yes, education, I remember one of our former owners was a professor" Ben got up and asked "who was he?" Sturnn shrugged "Moriarty, huh, I guess it doesn't matter considering he's dead" Ben shrugged and got ready "you guys can hide in backpack, don't know when I'm gonna need to transform so it's better to bring you guys with me" the Kwamis flew into his backpack and Ben put another pack of beef jerky in it. Ben entered the kitchen area to see his parents having breakfast "did you sleep well?" His mother asked "fine enough" Ben responded, Ben sat down and his mom set down a plate of food in front of him.

Ben began eating, but his attention was grabbed by his dad watching the news where he saw himself fighting Skorpoxus. Ben nearly choked on his food when he saw himself getting tossed around, his mother looked at him "slow down Ben" she told him "sorry mom, just...excited for school" his mom smiled as did his dad "hurry and finish your breakfast, your school is only a couple of blocks away" Ben nodded and quickly finished and was out the door. Ben walked down the street with his phone in his hand "okay, just keep heading straight until I get to the corner, then turn right" Ben didn't notice someone stopped right in front of him when he bumped into them making him fall back but they barely moved.

Ben was a bit dazed but quickly recovered and checked on the person "I'm really sorry about that" Ben quickly realised they were female, he also noticed the impressive height of this person. Ben was 5'7 and this person was nearly a head taller than him, she had dark skin and dyed white hair that was in a ponytail, she was wearing a black halter top and jean shorts with visible spats underneath "I-I'm really sorry about that, I wasn't looking where I was going" the person laughed "It's okay, with my frame I'm surprised it doesn't happen sooner" Ben laughed with the girl "I haven't seen you around before" she commented with Ben responding "I just moved here, I'm Ben, Ben Williams" the girl responded in kine "Sophia, Sophia Briggar" Ben and Sophia smiled at each other "I'll show you the way to school" Ben nodded and walked beside her.

Ben began to notice the odd stares coming from people "man, it seems like people can't stop staring at me, am I that ugly or something?" Sophia began to laugh "no, it's because of me" Ben felt perplexed but let it go and kept walking "the school's nice, a bit cliquey though" Ben then questioned "cliquey? Elaborate" Sophia elaborated "since forever Greenville Academy's student body has been...divided, no one really interacts with anyone outside their 'designated' clique" Ben nodded "it's kinda like ant colonies in a way, if I see anyone carrying giant leaves I'm counting that as a red flag" Sophia laughed "who wouldn't?" Ben laughed aswell "me, apparently" Ben then thought "but WHY are they staring at ME?" Sophia elaborated further "sorry, I'm a part of a clique myself so socializing with those that are not of my own is...strange, it's shitty I know but, that's Greenville" Sophia suddenly stopped as did Ben "here we are, Greenville Academy" Ben looked to the right and saw the school, it was a series of large and small buildings spread about a large courtyard "wow, this place is big" Sophia responded "yup" she then pointed to a grey and black building "that's the office, you'll get your schedule there" Ben nodded and they parted ways.

Ben approached the door but saw the reflection of someone charging at him, Ben dove out of the way and the person rammed the door causing a dent. The brutish person rubbed his head, he had a Letterman jacket and was massive, easily weighing twice as much as Ben. Ben stood up as did the brute "man, you're just a walking stereotype aren't you?" Ben said without realising "note to self: stop thinking out loud" The large boy cracked his knuckles "you were talkin' to my girl" Ben felt his blood drop and thought "oh great, flirted with a Meathead's girl, way to go Benjamin" Suddenly another person came from behind the agressor and put his hand on his shoulder "Sophia isn't your girlfriend Harvey, she's rejected you more times than her team has won championships, four in counting" Harvey turned around "oh, Mason, I was just messing around with the new guy, y'know, showing him the Greenville Spirit" Mason made a face of doubt and then one of concern when he looked behind Harvey, Harvey looked behind him to see a man in a suit "Principal Delmore" Harvey said weakly "Detention, and a phone call home" Prinical Delmore stated with Harvey slumping over and walking away while giving Ben a dirty look. Mason walked over to Ben. Mason was tall and had a muscular physique "sorry about Harvey, he's protective of the Queen of Green" Ben looked confused "Queen of Green? Is that a slogan for a lawn service or something?" Mason explained "Sophia is the most admired girl in the school, captain of the volleyball team and their ace player, almost every single guy in the school has a picture of her in their 'secret drawer', Harvey is head over heels for her so seeing a new guy hit it off with her without even trying set him off" Ben nodded "well, thanks for the save, the last thing I want is to get flattened by a walking, talking bicep" Mason laughed "I like you, you're funny, anyway, I'll see you around" Mason ran off and Ben made his way into the office.

Ben started thinking to himself "this day has been pretty eventful, hopefully nothing else happens today" Ben got to the front desk and talked to the secretary "I'd like to get my schedule" the secretary responded "name please" Ben answered "Benjamin Williams" the secretary pulled out his schedule "Class 2-A, the building across from here on the second floor" Ben took his schedule and thanked her. Ben walked out and began making his way towards Building A, Ben began thinking out loud "wow, this school is big" a familiar voice sounded behind him "yup" Ben looked behind him to see Sophia "oh, hey, I'm just heading to my first class, 2-A" Sophia's face lit up a bit "oh! That's my class!" Ben smiled "well isn't that a coincidence" Ben and Sophia began climbing the stairs when Ben saw Mason near the top "oh, hey Mason!" Ben called out, Mason looked at Ben and waved "you guys have an A class?" Ben and Sophia nodded "we both got 2-A" Mason laughed "that's my class!" Ben felt like something was wrong while Sophia and Mason laughed.

The group entered the classroom and the teacher looked at them "Ms. Briggar, Mr. Dorris, take your seats" she then looked at Ben "ah, Mr. Williams, I presume, my name is Mrs. Moirah, since your grades were fairly high at your old school so you've been put into the advanced class, please take your seat in the second row next to Mr. Grayson" Ben looked at the lone kid at a desk and made his way over to him, Ben sat down and tried to conversate "hi, my name's Ben" Grayson responded rudely "I know, she already said it" Ben looked confused "a bit rude, but okay" Grayson looked at him and responded "you got a problem with me?" Ben responded "yeah, I think I do have a problem with you, it's your attitude, you get that kind of behavior from a store or is it custom made from a bad home?" That seemed to get a reaction out of Grayson as he stood up and began shouting "Don't claim to know my life, you're a nobody!" Ben and Grayson stood face to face as tension in the room began to rise "you should probably get out of my face" Ben said with Grayson responding "maybe you should leave town before you mess with the wrong person". Sophia suddenly spoke up "maybe you should be the one leaving, Timothy, you already have the lowest marks in the class it's a wonder you're still here" Timothy was about to say something when Mrs. Moirah interrupted "enough you two! But you do bring up a good point Sophia, Class Evaluations are approaching, if you can't get an 85 or higher you will be dropped into regular courses, I do hope all of you pass" Timothy sat back down and Mrs. Moirah sensed more trouble brewing "Benjamin, why don't you change seats, next to...Arnold" she gestured to another empty desk.

Ben made his way over to the desk and sat down, Arnold was a skinny kid, he wore a lime green baseball cap with a creature design on it, he wore a blue shirt with an orange sweater and simple blue jeans. Arnold was the first to engage "it was brave of you to stand up to Grayson, he is a very brash individual" Ben nodded "yeah, he's a bit of an ass" Arnold stuck out his hand and Ben shook it "I am Arnold, Arnold Schmidt" Ben responded "I'm Ben, but you already knew that didn't you?" Arnold smiled and Ben sat down, Ben saw a guidebook to a game "Caverns and Chimeras, I played that game back home sometimes" Arnold looked at Ben "wait, you play Caverns and Chimeras?" Ben answered "a bit, a couple of my friends played it back home" Arnold seemed excited "wow, there are very few of us that play here so I am surprised there are more out there" Ben reassured him "don't worry man, no matter where you go there are people like you, you're never alone" . Arnold smiled and went back to his book.

Ben became increasingly impatient with how class was coming along, each class was as if it was covering the entire subject in one period. Ben's sanity was saved when the bell rang, Ben was about to walk out the door when Arnold, Mason, and Sophia tried to interact with him "what are your plans for aftschool, Ben?" Sophia asked with Ben attempting to respond but Arnold interjected "a bunch of us are gonna play some CnC together afterschool, you could come with us" Ben stuttered a bit and Mason decided to step in aswell "a bunch of us are gonna hang out at the rec center if you wanna come" Ben grabbed his head and slightly raised his voice "Okay! So here's a crazy idea, why don't we all hang out together" the three were confused "all of us?" Sophia questioned "hang out?" Arnold continued "together?" Mason finished. Ben nodded "yeah, cliques are bull anyway, let's go out and get some pizza or something" the three began to think but came to a decision quickly "I'm in" Sophia said "as am I" Arnold added with a final confirming nod from Mason, Ben laughed "looks like we've got ourselves a new clique".


	5. Pugilist

Ben and the others walked through campus noticing the glares and whispers directed towards them, Ben overheard a boy and girl whispering "is that Sophia Briggar with Arnold Schmidt?" The girl nodded "and Mason Dorris, who's the guy with them?" Ben ignored the rest of the conversation but was suddenly stopped by a large hand and a familiar voice "hey Mason, you with these people?" Ben saw that it was Harvey "yeah, we're gonna get some pizza, you wanna join?" Harvey hesitated "u-uh, no thanks man" Harvey went his way and Ben commented "wow, a chance to hang out with his crush and he rejects, I guess the caste system of this school has it's roots deep". Sophia laughed "yeah, not even lovestruck Harvey would dare mess with it this much".

_Meanwhile in a Boxing Gym __on the other side of town_

inside the dimly lit gym was a man working a punching bag when he was interrupted by someone coming in "we're closed right now, come back tomorrow" the man said "oh, I think you can make an exception for me" the man turned to see a large figure in the shadows "Pangolin! It's good to see you, look I don't have the money but I'm close, I just need to win my next fight and-" Pangolin stopped him "I'm not here about the money Johnny, I'm here to offer you a job, and one of my Miraculous" Johnny looked perplexed "don't you only loan out the Miraculous when you wanna-?" Pangolin cut him off again "to whack someone, I got someone who needs a good wallop and I believe you are the one man for the job" Johnny kept working the bag "can't you get another one of your thugs to do it?" Pangolin approached Johnny "they ain't got the skills, you do, and if you do this job, all your debts will be paid, if not" Pangolin reeled back and struck the bag causing it to bust open and fly off the chain. Pangolin snapped his fingers and Jeffords emerged from the shadows with an open brief case holding a number of Miraculous "take your pick Mr. Mcgonnal" Johnny picked one up and asked "do I say anything?" Jeffords shook his head "just put it on when you need it" Pangolin instructed "you are gonna whack the new hero Beowulf, cause some ruckus to lure him out" Pangolin and Jeffords left leaving Johnny alone in the spotlight.

_Back to Ben and friends_

Ben and the others arrived at a small brick building with a sign that had a man tossing pizza dough and the name 'Ray's Pizza' on it "this place's pizza was the first thing I ate when I got here, haven't actually gone inside though" Ben stated as he opened the door for the others, Ben felt a cold gust of wind that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Ben snapped his head to the street to see nothing, a rough voice came from the restaurant, it was the owner "hey, close the door kid!" Ben slowly walked in and closed the door where he saw his friends already seated. Ben sat down with them, a waiter came over "okay, what is everyone feeling?" Sophia was first "I'll take a slice of-" Ben tuned out the chatter of the others and focused all of his attention outside, he could smell trouble in the air, nothing like Skorpoxus, but was malicious in its own way, a quick shoulder shake from Sophia brought him back "hey Ben, what's up with you?" Ben looked at her and reassured her "I'm fine, I just thought I saw something, I'll have a slice of Pepperoni please".

The Group began conversating as they ate, Sophia looked at Ben an asked him "so Ben, where are you from?" Ben responded "oh I'm from Michigan, my dad moved here for work" Sophia questioned further "what is Michigan like, I've never been" Ben sipped his water "cold...so no different from here in weather, the potholes are so big you could fill them up with water and make a swimming pool" the others laughed with Mason adding on "I bet in Michigan you don't have to deal with streets more packed than a can of nasty sardines" the sudden slap of a Butcher Knife in the kitchen signaled that Ray heard that with Arnold responding "I am sure your sardines are fresh and tasty Ray" Ben laughed "definitely, but hey atleast this place's slogan isn't 'DON'T DRINK THE WATER!'" the whole table erupted in laughter that disturbed the neighboring tables a bit. Ben calmed down and looked at his halfway finished slice "truth is, I really do miss my old home, this place is so different it's kinda crazy, so many people going in so many different directions. Nothing like Michigan where you know everyone on your street by name and can ask them for a cup of sugar at 12 in the morning no problem".

Arnold decided to speak up "I have read that homesickness is very common for people who have recently moved, it is reccomended to experience new things in your new environment" Ben added "like hanging out with new and really cool people?" Sophia was touched by this statement and hugged Ben "thank you Ben!" Ben laughed and said "I'm serious though, you guys are really cool for going against the grain just to hang out with me" Mason responded "don't sweat it, honestly this is the most fun I've had in a while" Sophia decided to tease him "Mason Dorris the Mailbox Destroyer having fun being civilized?" Mason scoffed and took another bite of his pizza. Arnold decided to open up a bit "I too have never truly fit in, not many people share my interests so I have been an outcast for as long as I have been at Greenville" Ben added on "that and you avoid contractions like the plague" everyone laughed and Ben stood up "this is the start of something new, I can feel it" Mason stood up aswell "yeah, screw those cliques at school, in this moment, we spat in their faces" Sophia practically jumped up and almost hit the roof "Yeah! To hell with staying in the social line" Arnold stood up aswell "yes, I am not ashamed of my interests and I should not be!". Ben smiled as he looked at the newfound unity of all of them, he felt like he belonged already.

The group paid for their bill and got back onto the street, Mason suddenly burped with everyone backing away "that's gross man" Ben stated with Mason laughing "you were right, that pizza was excellent" Ben was about to ask something when he saw something moving in the corner of his eye, thanks to his heightened reflexes he saw that it was heading toward Sophia and quickly dove and got her to the ground just as the large object flew by and hit the brick wall of Ray's, it was a large metal mailbox. Ben and Sophia looked up to see a large figure in the middle of the street that spoke in a loud voice "I hear the new hero Beowulf calls this part of New York home, if he really is a hero he should come out and go a few rounds with me! If not" the figure uppercutted another mailbox and then puched it towards other people who managed to avoid it but not without someone getting covered in mail. Ben got Sophia up and gestured towards an alleyway "I'll lead him away, you guys go!" Arnold objected "Ben, judging by how this person punched that mailbox, he is far stronger than any human in existence" Ben gave a shaky thumbs up "it's okay guys, I'll be fine" Sophia grabbed Ben's arm "be careful" the others made their way into the alley and Ben went the opposite way to a darker alley where his Kwamis came out of his backpack "okay Prowwl, you're up" Prowwl nodded and got ready "Prowwl! Let's Hunt!" Prowwl was sucked into the Miraculous and Ben became Beowulf once more.

Beowulf noticed his costume was different, he had a long dark blue scarf that also acted as a mask for his mouth, he still had his eye mask but was more sharp and less wild. He no longer had spandex but a full ninja suit, he had blue arm and hand wraps that went all the way to the shoulders and white leg wraps up to his knees, he also had a dark blue sash around his waist. Beowulf studied his costume "wow, this is new" Sturnn went up to him "you have different powers with this suit, go ahead and find out what they are" Beowulf looked at Sturnn "aren't you gonna help me?" Sturnn shook his head "I'm not a teacher".

Beowulf came out of the alleyway and confronted the villain who was in the middle of punching dents in a car "so, who're you and what is with that costume?" The villain turned around, his suit was covered in grey and blond fur and had a furry eyemask, his hands were covered by red boxing gloves, a large tail dragged on the ground and rested behind two large legs that made him taller "just the hero I was looking for, the name's Walloproo" Beowulf let a small laugh escape his mouth which angered Walloproo "seriously? Walloproo? Can you get anymore on the nose? And this is coming from a guy who fought Skorpoxus last week" Walloproo growled and charged forward, Beowulf noticed his speed and was barely able to dodge a swift right hook. Beowulf backflipped and quickly sprang forward hitting Wallop with two consecutive kicks but was blocked when Wallop put up his gloves. Beowulf got in close and threw a straight but Wallop ducked under it and hit Beowulf with an uppercut that made Beowulf drop his guard. Wallop delivered two quick bodyshots to Beowulf making him bend forward, Wallop finished the combo by balancing on his tail and drop kicking Beowulf making him fly down the street and through the glass doors of Ray's. Beowulf crashed into the counter crushing it.

Beowulf regained conciousness to see Ray helping him up "did anyone get the size of those Timberlands?" he shook his head and regained his senses "okay, time to get back out there" Beowulf leaped out to meet Wallop on the street "ready for more hero?" Beowulf cricked his neck "I don't know, are you ready for rupturee eardrums? Sonic Howl!" Beowulf howled but nothing happened "I don't have Sonic Howl?" a right cross from Wallop sent Beowulf skidding across the ground "ouch, noted; in this form I do not have Sonic Howl" Beowulf got up and put up his fists "you stand no chance!" Wallop rushed and began barraging Beowulf with a flurry of punches. Beowulf attempted to get a few jabs in but was no match for the multiple strikes and his guard was quickly broken and was sent upward with a massive uppercut. Wallop bent down and jumped after Beowulf, Wallop quickly rose to Beowulf's height and did a full front flip and axe kicked Beowulf straight into the pavement.

Beowulf dug himself out of the pavement "this is not going well for me" Wallop landed behind him and laughed "you got that right" Beowulf sighed "oh no" before getting kicked out of the crater. Beowulf struggled to get back onto his feet but managed while still being a bit wobbly "okay, plan formulation time, he's faster than me, and he fights better, what do I have? A weapon, Sturnn, what's my weapon?" Sturnn answered "on your back!" Beowulf felt around his hip to find two handles connected to some metal plating behind him "perfect" he grabbed onto them and waited for Wallop to rush. Wallop bounced up and down and finally leaped at Beowulf, Beowulf saw his chance and rushed quickly unsheathing his weapons and striking Wallop while maneuvering to the other side of Wallop. Wallop howled in pain as six large gash marks were present on his chest and Beowulf's weapons were revealed, a pair of bladed claws, three on each hand and were 6 inches in length, they were gleaming silver and didn't even have a stain on them from the strike "whoa, cool! I hope this kind of weapon isn't copyrighted!" Beowulf readied his claws faced the clearly angered Walloproo. Beowulf muttered to himself "Now the real fight begins".


	6. Round 2

Beowulf slid the claws across eachother creating an ear grating sound that made Walloproo wince. Beowulf rushed forward and Wallop put up his guard, Beowulf attacked with a flurry of slashes from his Tekko-Kage, the blades ripped up Wallop's arms and he had to jump back. The marks Beowulf left were red and some were dripping "if I can't defend, I'll just attack!" Wallop rushed and threw a jab but was stopped by Beowulf who stabbed into Wallop's gloves causing the villain to yelp in pain. Wallop panicked and threw another punch only to have that hand stabbed aswell "man, you really aren't the brightest lightbulb in the drawer are you?" Wallop struggled to get his words out "s-shut up already!" Wallop tried to move but he pulled Beowulf along with him which caues them to spin around "I don't get it, do you wanna fight? Or dance?" Wallop became even angrier "SHUT UP ALREADY!" Wallop balanced on his tail and donkey kicked but Beowulf jumped over his legs and drop kicked Wallop instead separating the two.

Wallop was knocked back but regained his footing quickly, his arms draped down and blood slowly dripped from the wounds on his gloves and arms "you should probably give up man, whatever is driving you to do these things is not worth the harm it's causing you" Wallop growled "don't bother preaching to me! There are things in this world that you don't understand, like how my Miraculous can buff me up" Beowulf readied himself as Wallop's Miraculous glowed and his veins began to subtly glow red and bulge, his body began to grow as did his height. Wallop finished transforming and spoke in a distorted voice "DEVOUR" Beowulf began thinking "okay, he's bigger so he's slower so-" he was interrupted by a sudden right cross from Walloproo that sent him sliding "okay, still fast, maybe faster, oh boy" Beowulf barely hade time to dodge the next swing but managed to lean back and avoid it. Beowulf ducked underneath a right hook and uppercutted Wallop, his claws had barely dug into Wallop's chin and he responded with a straight that made Beowulf nearly fall over when it struck him, Beowulf struggled to keep conscious from the blow when Wallop whirled and hit him with his tail.

Beowulf flew back and landed on his neck "oh man...in an immense amount of pain right now, Sturnn, please, I need some help with these powers" Sturnn came out and taunted Beowulf "I don't know, it seems like you havw this under control" Beowulf growled at him and Sturnn explained "this form has the ability of Wolf Pack" Beowulf did a handspring and jumped onto his feet "that's all I need, Wolf Pack" Beowulf made hand signs, he outstrecthed his arms and crossed them while pointing his pinky and index fingers forward. Beowulf suddenly started vibrating and soon began to split into five copies of himself, Beowulf put down his arms and looked at his copies "okay, clones, never been one for group brawls but this'll do!" One of the copies rushed and flipped his claws inward to hit Wallop with a liver shot, another took advantage of Wallop's pain and ducked hit Wallop in the kidney, another went behind Wallop and kneed him in the back making him bend backwards then bend down. The last clone rushed and did a handstand right infront of him and shot his legs upward kicking Wallop into the air. Beowulf saw what the clones were doing and began sprinting to them, the one nearest to him turned around and cupped his hands together and lowered them with Beowulf putting his foot on his hands and the clone spring boarded Beowulf into the air. Beowulf did a small twirl and raised his leg while jumping towards Wallop, he brought his leg down and struck Wallop making the villain rocket to the ground causing debris and dust to fly up and a large crater had formed around Wallop.

Beowulf landed and his clones backed him up as they waited for Wallop to resurface, and resurface he did as his massive arm punched through the debris on top of him. Wallop lifted himself out and Beowulf's Pack rushed him jumping and dashing around him slashing and striking him while he was down. Wallop roared and hit the ground with his fists causing Beowulf and his clones to slow down enough for Wallop to catch them, he grabbed one and punched it making it poof into smoke. He turned his attention to another one and jumped forward hitting it with a straight that also vaporized it, one of the clones noticed something, he noticed Wallop's veins were beginning to fade and he was slowly losing muscle mass. The clone went over to Beowulf and pointed this out "he's losing steam, not like Skorpoxus who had better stamina at the expense of speed" Beowulf directed the remaining clones "okay boys, let's play hard to get!"

all of them lept into the air and passed over Wallop who gave chase, he swung at one of them but missed as another lept up and kicked him in the side of the head and another slashed him across the face with his claws. Wallop roared and began swinging wildly forward taking out the two clones, when he stopped he was breathing heavily and he looked more like his original size. Beowulf nodded to his clone and rushed towards Wallop who put up his fists weakly, Beowulf leaped up into the air and that got Wallop's attention meanwhilethe clone slid between his feet and quickly put him in a full nelson. Beowulf then yelled "Wolfsbane!" and punched Wallop with his fist extracting his power "Devour the Power!" He yelled as he absorbed his powers and his right hand became wrapped with a large boxing glove "Here comes the Knockout!" Beowulf reeled back and punched Wallop square in the cheek causing him to fly down the street and the last clone to vaporize upon launch. Wallop bounced across the street and finally hit a parked car, he was knocked out cold. Beowulf ran over to him and noticed the pendant on his chest, Beowulf took it off and Wallop transformed back "who is this guy?" Beowulf asked with a bystander answering "that's Johnny McGonnal, he's a small time boxer who got in trouble with some bad folks, he's my neighbor" Beowulf looked at Johnny and then at the civilian "get him to a police station, maybe they can protect him, I'm afraid they put him up to this, and he failed, and I don't want to see what happens when someone fails them". Beowulf lept away and into an alley where he de-transformed back into Ben, he gave Prowwl some jerkey "this isn't gonna stop, I know it's not, not unless I pull this weed out from the roots, tomorrow we'll start digging".

Ben made it back home where he was surprised to se his friends there with his parents, his mother saw him and ran over to him hugging him "oh my baby, I'm so glad you're okay" his dad came over to him and hugged him aswell "your new friends told us everything, that was brave of you, but very foolish" Ben smiled "love you too dad" he hugged both of his parents and then went over to his friends "how'd you guys know where I lived?" Arnold answered "we went back to look for you but Beowulf was in the middle of fighting, that was when we met yohr parents, they were looking for you and they asked us if we had seen you, that was when Beowulf went flying into Ray's and your parents led us back to your home" Ben sighed and said "well, thanks for looking out for me, but I said-" Mason cut him off "we know, it was dangerous but you were there too, look, we can't go losing the guy who brought us together on the same day he did, you're way too important to us already" Sophia got up from her chair and hugged Ben "don't ever do that again" Ben responded "don't worry, I'll try to think before I act next time".

That night when Ben's friends went home Ben was at his desk looking at the two Miraculous on his desk "what am I supposed to do with these things? They're way too dangerous to be kept in a place like this" a sudden gust of wind caused his balcony door to open and his head snapped to it, he approached the door slowly and peered out over the balcony to see nothing, he then felt a presence next to him and when he looked he saw a familiar old man sitting there "WHOA" he screamed as the old man sat there drinking tea "calm down young Benjamin, I mean you no harm" Ben breathed in and said "hey, you're that old man with the jewelry box...you're the one who gave me the Miraculous!" The man nodded and suddenly glowed with energy, it dispersed and he was suddenly taller and noticeably younger, going from a mid 80s man to a mid 40s man "a little illusion trick a friend cooked up for me, now, you must have a lot of questions, go ahead and ask your first question" Ben started "first question, who are you?" The man laughed "pretty simple question don't you think? although it's a loaded question for sure" Ben shrugged and asked again "should I call you master or something?" The man laughed again "no, no, no, I am no master, I had one once but...not anymore, anyway, from here on out I am your mentor, and from her on you can call me...Donovan".

_Author's notes: Hoo boy this chapter was a doozy to write, if you can't tell I was going for a more comedic tone with this chapter, hell I originally drafted for Beowulf to use Walloproo as a speedbag during the final moments of the fight._


	7. Training

Ben and Donovan stood on the balcony, the wind was howling and the moon was full "so...Donovan, kinda boring isn't it?" Donovan responded snarkily "coming from Ben, how generic is that?" Ben scoffed and looked out towards the moon, without looking at Donovan he asked "why did you choose me?" Donovan sighed "y'know, I asked my master the same thing when I got to ask him questions, and the answer is the same one he gave me, you're good, there are not a lot of truly good people in the world, but those who are, get rewarded" Ben leaned on the balcony "doesn't really seem like a reward when my face is getting pounded into ground up beef" Donovan sighed "yeah, the hero gig ain't easy" Ben asked more "so you were a Miraculous holder?" Donovan nodded "yes, a long time ago, in Paris" Ben looked at him "you were a part of the Parisian League of Superheroes?" Donovan nodded "yup, before the bad times" Ben looked down "Cat Noir, it was on every news station, I was only 5 when it happened" Donovan looked at him "I saw it happen" Ben then asked "what did happen?"

Donovan leaned on the balcony aswell "the mission was simple, the plan was to get the Butterfly Miraculous from the new owner, Gabriel Agreste had been imprisoned years before so we needed to know who this new one was, we infiltrated her lair and managed to get to her, but we didn't know was that she had leverage, she had kidnapped a poor girl's mother and had the place rigged to explode with the push of a button if we tried anything. I was so eager to finish this mission I rushed in, I tried to call her bluff but this time she was telling the truth and she pressed it with no hesitation. It happened so fast I could barely react, that was when Cat Noir pushed me out of the way and saved my life, he tried to save the mother but he couldn't and both were caught in the blast." Donovan got a little choked up "if I hadn't gotten in the way..." Ben looked down "then Ladybug disappeared" Donovan shook his body and continued "yes, she pulled the woman's body out of the rubble and broke down right in front of us, it was the first time someone had died under her protection and she didn't take it well, she left and now there are very few of the League left, I came here so that I could defend this city, it was the least I could do since I couldn't defend my own".

Ben got up from the balcony "so, what's next?" Donovan smiled "you have a day off tomorrow considering the renovations at your school, training will begin at 7:00 AM" Ben sighed "waking up that early defeats the purpose of the day off" Donovan laughes "you really do remind me of Cat Noir, you've got his wit" Ben smiled "oh wait, I have something" he pulled out the Miraculous he took from Skiz and Johnny "what are these? They're like Miraculous but...not" Donovan picked one up and studied it "hm, seems to be some sort of Pseudo-Miraculous, I'll take them and hide them so they won't fall into the wrong hands again". Ben sighed "well, that's a dead end on what these things are, we've got a big fight ahead of us" Donovan agreed "the work of a hero is never over" Ben felt a gust of wind and just like that Donovan was gone.

Ben woke up the next morning to a knock at his bedroom door, he groaned and got up to see who it was, he opened the door to see his dad standing there "your friends are here to see you" Ben groaned and got dressed, he sauntered to the front door and opened it to see his friends but they weren't moving, he closed the door behind him and all of them suddenly poofed into smoke and there stood Donovan "illusions, one of the many powers of some Miraculous" Ben sighed "okay so, what's first?" Donovan thought for a second and snapped his fingers "combat training" Ben's face lit up "cool!" Ben and Donovan made their way to a rooftop and Donovan turned around "Transform" Ben shrugged "Sturnn, Let's Hu-" Donovan suddenly tripped Ben before he could finish "ow" Donovan helped him up "you must learn to be faster, no time for theatrics, people can get hurt in those precious few seconds" Ben nodded "right" he breathed in and got ready. Donovan rushed "Prowwl, Let's Hunt" Ben said as fast as he could and transformed on the spot grabbing Donovan and lifting him over his head "how's that?" Donovan laughed "perfect".

Beowulf did stretches in preperation for the next exercise "okay hero, make sure to stretch before doing any kind of saving the day, you don't wanna pull anything in the middle of the action" Beowulf finished and asked "okay, what's next?" Donovan crossed his arms "we play tag" Beowulf was visibly confused when Donovan pulled out a Bolo Tie and put it on his neck, suddenly a Kwami came out of it, the Kwami was black and had two big horns on the side of its head and a pinkish snout "Boggo, we've got a student finally" Boggo was very excited "alright! Let's run him into the ground!" Donovan looked at Boggo disappointedly "what I meant to say is, let's run him into a valuable lesson" Donovan sighed and shouted "Boggo, Rampage!" Boggo was sucked into the Miraculous and Donovan transformed, his costume was black and brown latex, there was clear padding in the chest area to signify muscle tone, he had a mask that wrapped around his head with two small white horns sticking out of either side. Beowulf looked amazed "whoa, what is your Superhero name?" Donovan thought "Steer".

Beowulf and Steer stared eachother down "you won't be able to catch me" Steer stated with Beowulf remarking "we'll see" Steer suddenly charged and Beowulf barely had time to jump over him "hey! Isn't the point of tag to run away from who's 'it'?" Steer stopped charging and said "no one ever said I had to run away, why don't I just maul you? Then there won't be anyone to be 'it'" Beowulf then uttered "yikes" and began to run as Steer charged after him, both of them jumped across rooftops. Beowulf suddenly got an idea and jumped off the edge of a building, Steer peered over the edge while Beowulf hid beneath the jutted ledge of the building, he heard Steer move away and felt relieved, that's when Steer's hand came down and grabbed him. Steer lifted him up and said "not really good at hiding are you?" a voice from behind Steer commented "fooled you" the Beowulf in Steer's hand evaporated and Beowulf tagged Steer's shoulder "impressive use of your powers" Beowulf felt cocky "thanks, looks like I really am a prodigy huh?".

Steer turned around and said "next exercise, combat training" he took a swing at Beowulf but the strike was easily avoided. Beowulf put his fists up as did Steer "remember, your enemies won't fight fair, they'll throw dirt in your eyes and, they'll cheap shot, they'll even lie to save their own skin so be prepared for anything" Steer suddenly kicked up some dust and Beowulf swiped it away only to get hit with a roundhouse kick that sent him sprawling "responding to a distraction is what they're looking for, look past it" Beowulf nodded and got back up "right" Steer kicked up more dust and Beowulf responded with a sweep kick that took Steer off his feet and onto the ground "nice, taking advantage of me being off balance" Beowulf smirked beneath his mask. Steer winced in pain and grabbed his ankle, Beowulf rushed over to see what was wrong "it's nothing, just old wounds, you can see why I personally can't do this kind of job" Steer de-transformed and gave Boggo a piece of celery "you've got skills kid, not like me, I always had a partner to help me along the way, you're alone on the field" Beowulf thought about it "well, since I'm alone out there I won't have any distractions" Donovan sighed "you've got the right thinking, but don't let that kind of thinking seep into your life as Benjamin Williams".

Beowulf de-transformed and sat on the edge of the building "I need to find out where these Supervillains are coming from" Donovan agreed "I can help do some digging but I don't know what I can do" Beowulf suddenly had a realization "Skiz was a murderer that was bailed out of prison by someone, and Johnny was a boxer in it with the loan sharks, it must be a hierarchy of some kind and there must be a boss that distributes these things, if I can find this boss then I cango after him and get him to talk" Donovan cautioned Ben "you're on the right track, but don't rush into this, if you find him out, don't just go after him when you do because chances are if he has these Pseudo Miraculous, he probably has some real ones of his own" Ben nodded "right, gather information, then bust him when I'm ready" Ben picked up the sound of glass breaking and an alarm going off "robbery, maybe I can gather some info right now" Ben transformed and lept off the building and mad his way towards the sound with Donovan whispering to himself "be careful".


	8. Molten

Beowulf arrived on the scene of a robbery, he could hear everything the crooks were saying even from across the street "only take the cash, don't eath nothing, this is my parents bakery" Beowulf leaped in and interrupted them "what kinda son are you? Smashing the piggy bank but refusing to take from the cookie jar" Beowulf flipped upside down and split kicked two of the robbers causing them to fly back into the counter and one of the walls. The last robber charged with a crowbar in hand, Beowulf balled up his fist and swung making the robber flinch, the robber opened his eyes to see Beowulf's had went past his head "ya missed" he said as he brought up the crowbar, Beowulf retorded "wasn't aiming for you" Beowulf grabbed a jar of cookies behind the robber and smashed him in the back of the head with it causing shards of cookies and ceramic to scatter across the ground.

Beowulf heard police sirens and grabbed one of the robbers, Beowulf climbed to the top of a building and threw him onto it. The thief got up and felt his head "ouch, what the heck?" Beowulf approached him, this caused the robber to back up and nearly fall off the building only to be held by the collar by Beowulf "okay, you're gonna answer my questions" the man began panicking "okay, okay, I'll talk, just don't hurt me" Beowulf then asked "who do you work for?" The man stuttered "no one, we were just robbing the place" Beowulf pushed him further off the roof and he conceded "I swears it" Beowulf called his bluff "there's no way you're that desperate for cash that you'd steal from your own parents, unless there was something that could hurt them aswell as you, so I'm gonna ask you again, and I'd better get the truth" the man finally conceded "okay okay, me and my buddies got in really deep with a loan shark, little did we know he works for the big man himself" Beowulf pressed further "who's The Big Man" the man responded "I don't know, I've never seen him, but I do know he goes by The Pangolin, they say he's got powers kinda like you, they say if you're skilled enough he can give you powers too" Beowulf asked more "who can I talk to that can get me the info I need?" The man answered "Chinatown, you'll find a man named Cobalt in a bar called 'Midnight Fortune'" looked away and started thinking "thanks, your help has been appreciated". The cops on the ground were investigating the break in when the last robber plopped down at their feet tied up, they all looked up to see Beowulf swinging by.

Beowulf arrived in Chinatown and began scanning store fronts with his eyes "there" he whispered to himself as his eyes locked onto a non-lit neon sign that said 'Midnight Fortune' he sat on a large sign and said "I'll wait until it gets dark, less people who are active and more people minding their own business" he dropped down into an alley and de-transformed "hey, Sturnn, Prowwl, how do you feel about roasted duck?" The two Kwamis salivated at the idea "okay, cooked swamp waterfowl it is".

Ben sat on a rooftop across from the establishment watching the sun go down as his Kwamis devoured "man, I spend a lot of time on rooftops" Sturnn came up for air "it's not that weird, one of our previous owners hung out in trees a lot, Prowwl, what was his name again?" Prowwl came up aswell "Genghis" then proceeded to dive back in. Ben got out his phone an texted his mother

_hey mom, I'm gonna be home a little late, my friends want me to try this dessert place, I'll be home in a couple hours_

_okay honey, be back before 10_

Ben closed his phone and stretched "okay I'm gonna nees stealth so...Prowwl, Let's Hunt!" Prowwl got yanked away from his meal amd into the Miraculous. Beowulf stood on the edge and waited, suddenly the neon sign ignited and a number of people came out of the darkness and down the stairs and into a door, Beowulf leaped across the entire courtyard and onto the roof of the conjoined buildings. Beowulf managed to find a vent and climbed in, he made his way to an open vent and silently removed it. Beowulf stood on the rafters watching the men in the bar, some were playing pool while others were sitting at booths making bets and collecting money, Beowulf spotted a man at one of the tables that another referred to a 'Cobalt'. Cobalt had black hair that was receding but done up to make it look fuller, he wore a black and blue suit with a very appropriate cobalt tie, Beowulf could also see that he had a glass eye with a scar over it. Beowulf moved swiftly towards him until he was right above the table and dropped down causing the floorboards to rattle and everyone's attention was caught by this "hey boys, where do I put my money down?".

Beowulf thrashed the droves of grunts that came at him, tossing them over tables and into walls, one attempted to hit Beowulf with a pool cue but was met with a roundhouse kick that sent him onto the pool table. Beowulf jumped over two thugs that rushed at him and knocked their heads together, after Beowulf was done he turned his attention to Cobalt who was still sitting calmly in his chair "I hear you work for a guy they call 'The Big Man' I need to arrange a meeting" Cobalt laughed "well well well, if it ain't the hero that's been makin' rounds thwartin' The Big Man's operations, I'm honored you came ta see lil ol' me, but I have to say, no one meets The Big Man" Beowulf flipped onto the table and got in Cobalt's face "okay, so I'll just wait for him" Cobalt laughed again "and what are you gonna do to me to make him come here?" A man suddenly came through the door who appeared to be a regular "hey Cobalt how ya-" he stopped when he saw Beowulf and the various thugs on the ground "I can se you're busy so...I'll just go". Cobalt sighed "you've made your point".

Beowulf began interrogating Cobalt "so, who is this Big Man?" Cobalt answered "The Big Man is Pangolin and he's not one you wanna cross" Beowulf nodded "how does he get his Miraculous?" Cobalt shrugged "I may be high up but I'm not that high up kid" Beowulf asked further "okay, how do I get his attention?" Cobalt began to fidget which Beowulf notices but didn't do anything yet "you're already on the right track kid, he hates it when people mess with his income and your meddlin' with people who owe him money" Beowulf had a realization "so, stop more crime, lower his income" Cobalt kept moving and Beowulf finally did something about it. Beowulf jumped back and kicked the table up where he saw a Miraculous strapped onto the bottom, Beowulf acted quickly and grabbed the Miraculous "nice try Mr. Cobalt, looks like you've got no more Miraculous" Cobalt laughed "impressive kid but, one thing you should know about Pangolin, his higher ups always carry two Miraculous" Cobalt reached into his coat and pulled out a fire shaped Miraculous "shit" Beowulf uttered before Cobalt put on tge Miraculous and transformed.

Cobalt erupted in fire and laughed sinisterly. Cobalt emerged from the fire, his body was now flames and his eyes glowed a sickening yellow "hehehe, you screwed up kid, now you've gotta face me, Burnix!" Burnix formed two large fireballs in his hands and threw them at Beowulf, Beowulf dodged the fire and leaped at Burnix only for Burnix to sidestep and grab Beowulf by the ankle, Bewulf felt the intense heat around his ankle ans groaned a bit in pain before being tossed into the bar. Beowulf rubbed his head and Burnix dove at him, Beowulf thoughr fast and used his legs to catch Burnix and flip him into the wall of booze behind the bar frightening the bartender that was behind it. The fire that was already present began to spread "oh no, all these guys are in here" Beowulf began gathering the unconcious thugs but was grabbed from behind by familiar scalding hands and was lifted and slammed through a table. Beowulf donkey kicked Burnix into a wall and yelled "we've gotta get these guys outta here or they'll die!" Burnix laughed "you think I care about what happens to these shmucks?" Beowulf retorted "Pangolin will care when these guys who owe him money bite the dust" Burnix realised this and began helping in taking them outside.

Beowulf and Burnix finished taking everyone out of the bar and Beowulf noted "see? You can be-" he was interrupted by a fireball that hit him in his shoulder and caused him to slide across the ground "alright, let's finish this kid" Beowulf got up and cricked his neck "all right, fine" Beowulf leaped forward and roundhouse kicked Burnix into a stall causing it to collapse, Beowulf rubbed his leg as there was an obvious burn mark on his leg. Burnix erupted out of the rubble and put his hands together with his palms facing forward, Burnix unleashed a vortex of fire towards Beowulf. Beowulf ran around Burnix while the villain followed Beowulf with the twister, the twister burned store fronts and the ground in a spiral pattern, Beowulf felt the heat of the attack on the back of his neck as he ran, when Burnix finally took a break Beowulf saw his chance and rushed at Burnix "Wolfsb-" Beowulf was suddenly blindsided by the bartender and was tackled.

Beowulf got the bartender off of him but noticed that the Miraculous he grabbed from the bottom of the table was gone and in the bartender's hand "nice work Marty, now use it!" Marty nodded "right boss" and put on the Miraculous, Marty was suddenly encased in ice and burst out of it, gis costume made him look like a large polar bear in a business suit with a mysterious device over his arm that had a tube connected to a cylinder backpack. Marty put his other hand on his cannon arm and began shaking it like a cocktail shaker with Burnix stating "Ice 'em Polar" Polar chuckled "you got it, Supahero on the rocks" before aiming at Beowulf and unleashing a torrent of ice at him, Beowulf thought to himself "Should've brought a sweater for this mission".


	9. Crescendo

Beowulf was blown back by the ice blast and hit a wall where he was frozen to it "like I said, On The Rocks" Burnix charged up a fireball "how 'bout a little spice to thaw it out a bit?" Beowulf smirked "sorry guys, I'm not much of a drinker" Beowulf thrusted his claws into the ice and pried himself off before Burnix threw the fireball, the fireball hit the wall and scorched it. Beowulf looked at the burn mark "yeesh, glad I wasn't there" Burnix got frustrated "oi, shake harder! That stuff needs to be stronger!" Polar nodded and began shaking his arm and Beowulf seized the opportunity and ran at Polar but was stopped by a solid punch from Burnix "I know what ya doin' don't even think about it, you got both of us to deal with, Hero" Beowulf sighed in frustration, he had never fought more than one opponent until now.

Polar prepped his ice gun and chuckled "freezin' dis shmuck in his place" he fired and Beowulf managed to dodge it by sprawling on the floor. Beowulf sprang up and Burnix fired a vortex of flames, Beowulf thought quickly and and jumped high into the air and made sure Burnix tracked his movements. Beowulf landed and Burnix moved his vortex but instead of hitting Beowulf he hit Polar who Beowulf landed behind, Polar wailed in pain as the flames scorched his fur. Burnix stopped and Beowulf lifted Polar up and threw him onto Burnix, Burnix struggled to get the large bear off of him when Beowulf jumped high into the air above them and stomped Polar in the back with both of his feet making the concrete beneath them. The air in Burnix' lungs was forced out and he was noticeably dimmer, Beowulf took note of this but Polar regained his senses and grabbed Beowulf slamming him on the ground and shooting him point blank making him fly off and hit a fire hydrant. Beowulf felt his head then noticed the fire hydrant and got an idea, Burnix got up and caught his breath "okay you little shit, this just got personal".

Beowulf put his hand forward and flicked his fingers back and forward in a taunting motion. Burnix flared up and started chucking balls of fire at Beowulf which he dodged effortlessly "you gotta get in close, I can see those coming a mile away". Burnix stomped around and rocketed towards Beowulf, Beowulf saw this coming and had positioned himself infront of the fire hydrant. Polar tried to stop Burnix but was blindsided by one of Beowulf's clones that he had spawned during the confusion. Beowulf flipped behind the hydrant and uprooted it with his claws making water geyser out, Burnix couldn't stop himself and went straight into the geyser, the water steamed as Burnix was lifted into the air by the water and kept there. Polar threw off the clone and aimed at the geyser "don't worry Burnix, I got ya" Burnix protested "don't you idiot, you-" he was too late as Polar fired freezing the geyser...and Burnix freezing Burnix in solid ice.

Polar realised his mistake "oops" Beowulf rushed at him "oops is right big guy! Wolfsbane!" Beowulf punched Polar in the stomach and pulled out a white orb "Devour the Power!" Beowulf's costume turned white and he blasted Polar with a wave of cold energy that sent him flying. Burnix heated up and managed to break out "alright you lil'" he was interrupted by Beowulf shooting him with an ice beam and freezing him again. Beowulf's attention was caught when Polar shot another torrent and Beowulf responded by blasting straight through it and hitting Polar in the chest causing him to fall to his knees and onto the ground. Beowulf turned his attention to the frozen Burnix, Beowulf walked over and said "I've been wanting to do this since I met you" Beowulf reeled back and punched the block of ice causing it to explode and Burnix was launched through a wall. Beowulf spawned another clone and took their Miraculous, Beowulf went over to Cobalt and grabbed him "okay Cobalt, where can I find this 'Pangolin'?" Cobalt answered weakly "he works from Tremaine Tower" Beowulf questioned further "the big building with a T on it?" Cobalt nodded "that one...good luck Hero, you're gonna need it" Beowulf put him down and lept away just as the police came.

Beowulf de-transformed right across from Tremaine Tower "okay Sturnn, you're fully energized so I'm going with you" Prowwl ate a piece of jerky and warned Ben "please Ben, remember what Donovan said, don't go in yet, we need more information on him before we can move in" Ben disagreed "I've gotta take this guy down, there have been too many close calls with civilians, I've gotta end this, Sturnn. Let's Hunt!" Sturnn was sucked in and Ben transformed "okay, time to end this, right here, right now" Beowulf ran to the back of the roof and sprinted as hard as he could, he leaped towards the building and landed in the middle of it about 20 floors from the top, Beowulf was almost immediately swarmed by guards but he was ready, he tore through the guards on each floor, tossing them around effortlessly.

Beowulf crashed through the doors of the staircase with guards and their weapons scattered across the floor, Beowulf spotted the multiple other security rushing down the stairs, Beowulf thought fast and grappled the highest floor he could reach and pulled himself up to it, he jumped the railing and found the door to the top room. Beowulf kicked open the door to see three people sitting drinking coffee in a lounge room that was lavishly furnished with someone at the back infront of the window at a desk "there you are" the three people got up and pulled out Miraculous but Beowulf thought fast and swung his whip across striking the Miraculous' out of their hands. Beowulf turned around and struck the staircase making part of it collapse and making it impossible to enter or exit, the three people tried to move but Beowulf quickly grabbed the Miraculous on the floor, the man in the chair finally stood up "don't bother boys, let da hero have his moment, it won't last long".

Beowulf turned his attention to the person "you're the Pangolin aren't you?" The man stepped out of the shadows "you got me, Hero, I'm the guy that's been giving you a hard time, just like how you've been giving me and my business a hard time" he snapped his fingers and another man stepped out of the shadows with a briefcase "look, dis feud between us, it's meaningless, you keep stopping crime, I keep sending badder and badder mooks aftee you, it's not a good look for either of us, my men might stop respecting me, and seeing yourself getting thrashed on the morning news doesn't look too good either, so I'll cut you a deal, Jeffords, show the kid the goods" Jeffords walked over to Beowulf and opened the briefcase revealing bands of 100 dollar bills "you've got skills kid, those skills could be used to make some serious money".

Beowulf felt disgusted and shook his head "I don't want your money, I want to take you down" Pangolin's expression changed to that of irritation "so, you wanna play with the big boys, okay, let's play" Pangolin got up and Beowulf finally got to see who he was fighting, Pangolin was tall and intimidating, he was easily 6' tall, his muscles were barely contained in his suit and his hair was buzzed down short and was deep red. Pangolin then stated "Jeffords, take the others out of here and leave us to...discuss things" Jeffords nodded and used a door in the wall to direct the others to leave as did he. Pangolin reached into his desk and pulled out a large piece of brass knuckles and put it on when his Kwami appeared "Shell, Armor Up!" Shell was sucked into the Miraculous and Pangolin transformed.

Pangolin's form was monstrous, he had practically doubled in size, he was now twice as wide and stood at 8' tall, his face was now reptillian and was covered in black scales while his outer carapace was scale pattern mustard yellow and chrome. His hands were in the shape of clubs with the same outer and inner coloration as the rest if his body, five claws were at the end of them and his feet were tipped with three claws on each foot. Pangolin growled "let's see what you got kid". Beowulf pulled back his whip and cracked it against Pangolin's face barely making him flinch, Beowulf whipped him in the midsection and that made him slide back a bit. Beowulf reeled back as far as he could and let it rip, it hit Pangolin right in the midsection lifting him off the ground a bit and knocking him into the window making the whole thing spider crack. Pangolin walked forward and chuckled "man, is that really it?" Beowulf growled in frustration and began whipping Pangolin multiple times. Pangolin caught the whip and pulled Beowulf forward with ease, Beowulf was instantly lifted off the ground and was hit with a heavy punch from Pangolin making him fly across the room and through the door he had kicked in and finally through the wall on the other side.

Beowulf looked around him and saw a flagpole. he grappled to it and swung above the building, Pangolin suddenly crashed through the roof of the building and grabbed Beowulf causing them both to crash into a building. Pangolin had Beowulf by the neck and wasn't letting go "you really think you can beat me?" Beowulf retorted "that was the plan, but I'm improvising" Beowulf kicked Pangolin in the face and made him let go, Beowulf jumped up and brought both of his fists down on Pangolin's head but did no damage. Beowulf flicked his hands as they were hurt from the blow, Pangolin turned around and grabbed Beowulf by the neck and slammed him into the ground, Pangolin lifted both of his fists and slammed Beowulf through the building causing all of the windows to blow out from the force.

Pangolin grabbed Beowulf from the indention and threw him through a wall, Beowulf fell to the concrete with a crack, Beowulf was drifting in and out of conciousness but was snapped back to reality when he saw Pangolin jumping down

Beowulf did a handspring and flipped back letting Pangolin land into the ground making a small crater. Beowulf was breathing heavily and was visibly injured "heh, it's been awhile since I've had a good workout, but I think it's time for this little exercise to end" Beowulf composed himself, Pangolin was truly more powerful than he was, just like himself, Pangolin had a real Miraculous. Beowulf breathed in and unleashed the Sonic Howl, Pangolin tucked into himself and withstood the blast with his hard carapace, the blast ripped the concrete and asphalt from the ground ans caused windows to break but Pangolin wasn't budging.

Beowulf shut his muzzle and tried to catch his breath, Pangolin uncurled and dusted off his shoulder "heh, tickled" Pangolin reeled back "my turn" and punched Beowulf into a moving car tipping it over and dumping Beowulf onto the other side. Citizens rushed over to Beowulf and helped him up "thanks guys, but all of you should probably get out of here, this guy's not into the New York hospitality" the people nodded and ran. Beowulf ripped the flipped car's door off and grabbed the driver setting him of the sidewalk, he pointed to a civilian "help this guy" the person agreed and assisted the driver in getting away. Beowulf got ready for Pangolin to charge but he never did, Beowulf lept up onto the car but saw no one, suddenly Beowulf was hit by a giant fist and was sent down the street and into an innersection where a crowd of people gathered.

Beowulf got up and Pangolin approached him "now we've got an audience for the show don't we?" Beowulf's anger was brought to a boil and rushed at Pangolin punching the villian in the midsection and finally doing some damage, the lenses on Beowulf's eyemask glowed red and he began to rapidly punching Pangolin repeatedly in the stomach, Pangolin threw a punch but Beowulf grabbed his arm and used his momentum to flip him over and onto the ground making it crack under his weight, Beowulf lifted his leg high above his head and axe kicked Pangolin in the gut making him go further into the ground. Beowulf began punching Pangolin in the face, the sound of his fists smashing Pangolin were visceral and made the people watching wince with every strike, Beowulf then opened his muzzle and Sonic Howled Pangolin while he was on the ground making spidering cracks in the asphalt.

Beowulf breathed heavily and was seetuing in his rage, Pangolin groaned and grabbed at Beowulf, Beowulf backflipped away and Pangolin got up "wow, where did that come from?" Pangolin asked with Beowulf just standing there slouched and growling like an animal. Pangolin cricked his shoulders and roared "CRYSTAL!" suddenly large orange crystals began growing from in between his scales, Pangolin curled up and began spinning in place, his body was like a revving tire gaining more and more momentum. Pangolin launched himself and crashed into Beowulf who tried to withstand the massive impact, Beowulf's hands were going numb from the friction of the spinning so he used all of his strength to lift Pangolin up and throw the behemoth straight into the air. Beowulf whipped his chain amd wrapped around the airborne villain and pulled down causing Pangolin to rocket to the ground, the impact caused yhe ground to shake and multiple people to lose their footing, Beowulf's breathing was labored, he had pushed himself to the limit, his muscles ached and his head was spinning and he wantes to throw up.

Pangolin rose out of the crater and was visibly frustrated "okay, it's time we end this little meeting" the crystals on his body began to glow and he became encased in orange energy, Beowulf clenched his fist and shouted "Wolfsbane!" Pangolin began to rev up, energy crackled from both of them and in the blink of an eye they had took off and made contact. Beowulf pounced forward and reeled back and Pangolin blasted off, Beowulf threw his fist forward and impacted with Pangolin, the energy from the two expanded into a large orb that people had to back away from. the orb began to move erratically and expanded more...until it shrank into a small black orb and exploded creating massive wind pressure that broke the windows of buildings and cracked the streets, even knocking stoplights down. Everyone looked back and saw the winner.

Pangolin stood there holding Beowulf by the head "y'know, I've always been secretive about my criminal oragnization, always putting on a front, but you've helped me realise something, I'm tired of hiding, I should be taking over this city, I've had this Miraculous for years and I rarely ever uses it, I have an army of these things but I limit myself to shake downs and robbing cars, I make enough money but I could be making even more if I wasn't so...secretive, this realization is all because of you kid...thanks" he dropped Beowulf and punched him into a wall. Pangolin walked over to finish the job but was blindsided by a large force hitting him and sending him sliding across the street, the people looked to see a bull-themed hero standing there. Steer ran over to Beowulf and grabbed him running away into the night with Pangolin recovering and looking around, he then shouted at a camera that was filimh everything "I went after Tremaine, now my team of Miraculous Owners are gonna steamroll this city, you watch your back Tremaine" Pangolin then curled up and rolled away.

Steer made it to the Williams residence and opened the window setting Beowulf on the floor and waited, Beowulf woke up with a gasp and de-transformed, he got up and saw Donovan at the balcony "you promised me you'd leave him alone for now" Ben was in immense pain, as if every muscle in his body had been stretched to its absolute limit. Donovan turned around and said "you promised not to rush in!" His voice was stern and his demeanor was one of a disciplinary figure. Ben struggled to talk "I had to try and stop him" he managed to utter out with Donovan agruing back "and look what happened, you could've been killed, I won't have that on my conscience" Ben sighed "I know, but I had to atleast try, people, I had to defend the people" Donovan sighed in frustration "do you know how you stop him? By taking those Pseudo-Miraculous! The less he has, the less he can do!" Ben thought about it, Donovan was right. Ben reached into his pocket and pulled out the five Miraculous "I got these" Donovan sighed and took them "good job" Ben rubbed his Miraculous "the fight is gonna get even harder, isn't it?" Donovan said nothing confirming what Ben had asked. Donovan then turned to the window "maybe we need to bolster our ranks" he went to Ben's desk and placed down two jewelry boxes "these should help, remember to take the Miraculous back from the person after their work is done" Donovan transformed and jumped off the balcony disappearing into the night.

Ben went over to the jewelry boxes and opened them, one appeared to be a hair tie with a Spider design and the other was a hatpin with a Bat on it. Ben put down the jewelry boxes and walked out onto the balcony where he saw Tremaine Tower looming in the distance "I know who you are, Tremaine, I just need to expose you to the world". Ben looked up at the full moon and the starry sky, the fight had only just begun.

_Author's Notes: This is the biggest chapter I've worked on so far, befitting this is the end of the current arc, don't worry I'll get right back to work on Tales, and rest assured Ben will still be fighting alone, he will occasionally call upon the other Miraculous for help but most missions from here on out are going to be him by himself fighting a villain or an assortment of villains, if you have any questions you can leave them in a review and I'll answer them in the Author's Notes at the end of the chapter_


	10. Speed Demon

Ben stared out the window of his class, his mind drifted off as his battle with Pangolin played over and over in his head, his body definitely remembered as he was still sore days after the battle had ended. A ruler slap on his desk brought him back to reality, Mrs. Moirah was standing there "Mr. Williams, perhaps you will know, what is the purpose of the pythagorean Theorem?" Ben thought about it "anytime we want to know the square length of one side of a right triangle when we know the other two" Mrs. Moriah pursed her lip and nodded "very good Mr. Williams, your test grades aren't a fluke afterall" Ben sighed in relief when Mrs. Moirah walked away, Arnold leaned over and whispered "you seem distracted Benjamin, is everything okay?" Ben whispered back "I'll talk to you guys about it afterschool".

The bell finally rung and Ben was making his way toward the door when someone bumped into him making him drop his books, the person then kicked a couple of the books before heading out. Ben could tell by the leather jacket that it was Grayson, Ben picked up his things and was helped by Sophia and Mason "don't let Grayson push you around like that man, do something" Sophia shook her head "Timothy will get his dues, finals are next week" Arnold walked over "Timothy is in the bottom ten percentage of students in the school, if nothing changes then he is guarenteed to be expugated from the school" Sophia nodded but then asked "do you keep track of everyone in the school?" Arnold answered "no, I have been keeping track of everyone in our class, Timothy Grayson is at the bottom in personal test scores of our class". Ben sighed and put his books away "do you guys wanna hang out today?" Mason rubbed the back of his head "can't, I have family therapy to go to today" Arnold also declined "I have to accompany my brothers to their football game today" Sophia shrugged "I'm free".

Ben and Sophia walked out of school "so, where to?" Sophia asked with Ben answering "my place?" Sophia lit up "oooh yeah, you guys have name brand cookies at your place".

Ben and Sophia walked down the suspiciously empty sidewalk "man, since Pangolin's announcement, not many people have been out and about" Ben nodded but said nothing "I don't blame them considering how bad he beat Beowulf" Ben held his head down as they walked, ashamed of his defeat at the hands of Pangolin a week ago, there really was no going back to the way things were. They passed by a bank when a strong gust of wind made them stagger "whoa! What was that?" Sophia asked, Ben looked back to see the bank's revolving doors spinning at incredibly high speeds with various sized bills strewning the ground. Ben tightened his gaze and walked over with Sophia following "Ben...what do you see?" Ben looked down to see a shoe print with a distinct paw design "these footprints are from someone with a Miraculous Powers" Ben stated with Sophia questioning "are you sure?" Ben looked back at her a nodded. Ben looked a bit forward to see something lying on the ground, Ben picked up the peculiar object "red sunglasses" Ben whispered.

Ben and Sophia got to Ben's house where they grabbed some snacks and went into Ben's room, Ben contemplated while Sophia looked at the evidence "okay so, the thief has super speed and wears red sunglasses, that doesn't tell us much" Ben laid back and looked at his ceiling "this thief has an M.O. So he must be a personality" Sophia looked out of the window and stated "my uncle is familiar with...unsavory characters, I'll give him a call". Sophia dialed some numbers on her phone and began talking to someone "hey Uncle Marty! I have a favor to ask, can you meet us at this address? Okay thanks, you're the best" Sophiahung up then texted something and smiled at Ben "we've got a lead".

Ben and Sophia got to Ray's Pizza and Sophia saw someone she recognized "there he is!" She opened the door and rushed over hugging the person nearly crushing them, Ben walked in and joined them, Sophia let the man go and he breathed in "jeez Sophia, you're gonna crush this little man's bones". Marty had grey hair that was growing on the sides of his head, he had thick glasses and a brown leather jacket and skinny jeans, he was obviously trying to look young, but the wrinkles on his face betrayed him. Marty looked at Ben and pointed his thumb at him while looking at Sophia "boyfriend? Or are you stringing this boy along?" Sophia scoffed "no, just a friend, he's new in town, anyway, we need your help with something" Marty the gestured with his hands in confusion "whadda ya want? Need to get out of town to elope? In it with da Loan Sharks? Witness protection? What?" Sophia sighed and pulled out the pair of red sunglasses" we need ta find the owner of deez sunglasses Marty" Ben noticed a very distinct accent on Sophia's voice, she was very good at hiding it.

Marty studied them "where did you get a pair of these?" Sophia answered "we got em at a crime scene of a robbery, I know you've got some comnection. Who do they belong to?" Marty took off his glasses and sighed "they belong to a guy named Berko, South African guy, he came here a couple of years ago and got swept up in the life of swindlin' and pickpocketing, he's the fastest guy this side of the globe...if he's here, then Pangolin must've called in the big guns". Marty fiddled his glasses "look kids, don't get mixed up in all this, I couldn't forgive myself if something happened to you, I don't want to face your parents if that happened" Sophia looked down at the glasses "Uncle Marty, you should visit your brother" Marty sighed "I doubt he would want to see me, I didn't approve of him marryin' your mom" Sophia put her hand on his shoulder "you should see him Uncle" Marty smiled "if you kids want to find Berko you're gonna find him at Midnight Fortune, that's where he would be, since Cobalt got arrested the ol' Midnight has been trying to find new management, a lot of powerful folks from around the globe are aiming to control it" Sophia hugged Marty "thanks Uncle Marty" Marty smiled but then warned the two "don't even think about going near that place, you call the cops as soon as you get there".

Sophia and Ben got to the gat of Chinatown "okay, I'll call the police" Sophia said but Ben stopped her "if this guy has a Miraculous, the police might not be enough, Beowulf should be here" Sophia looked at Ben "how are we supposed to contact him?" Ben pulled out his phone and called a bogus number "hey Beowulf, we've got a lead on a Miraculous Holder at Midnight Fortune, okay" Ben put his phone away "let's get out of here" Sophia nodded and they began walking away. As they were walking Ben started talking "I never knew you were so into solving cases Sophia, never seen you this determined, not even with Volleyball" Sophia didn't respond so Ben looked back seeing no one "oh man, she went back didn't she?" Prowwl and Sturnn came out of his jacket pocket "we need to save her" Prowwl stated "yup, Prowwl, Let's Hunt" Ben transformed and took off after her.

Sophia was crouched behind looking at the people exiting the bar "hmm" she whispered "hmm is right" Sophia almost screamed but Beowulf covered her mouth "you should get out of here" Beowulf stated with Sophia shaking her head and removing his hand "I can't, not when I'm this close to cracking the case" Beowulf sighed "I don't want you getting hurt" Sophia smirked "I'm a big girl if you haven't noticed, I can take care of myself". Beowulf grabbed Sophia by the waist and lept up to a rooftop leaving her there "stay here" he said sturnly before leaping off the building and sneaking into the Midnight Fortune. Beowulf busted the vent open and walked on the rafters careful not to make a sound, suddenly a bullet whizzed past Beowulf and he nearly lost his balance, a voice eminated from above, it spoke in a thick accent "come down from there boy, we know you're there" Beowulf sighed, his cover had been blown.

Beowulf jumped down to see a speaker blasting crowded bar sounds and an empty bar "a trap, clever" Beowulf stated, someone came out from the back of the bar, Beowulf recognized the red sunglasses with gold outline, his skin was dark and his head was shaved, his smile was highlighted by a shiny gold tooth, his suit was white and red and his shoes were golden and shimmering "well well well, if it isn't the hero of New York, when I heard you'd taken out of Cobalt I thought you would be a challenge, but if it's this easy to fool you then well...I was mistaken". Beowulf looked Berko up and down "looking for my Miraculous? Don't worry, it's right here" he rolled up his sleeve to reveal a beaded bracelet "Speed! Full Sprint!" A Kwami appeared from his coat pocket and was sucked into the Miraculous causing him to transform.

Berko finished transforming, his costume consisted of a bodysuit with visible chest padding, he wore goggles and a braided tail draped behind him, his entire costume had a cheetah print "let's see you keep up with me, Duma!" Duma began shifting and disappeared in a flash, Beowulf was suddenly struck and taken off his feet, another blow sent him into a pool table. Beowulf reorganized himself and Duma finally reappeared "hehe, too fast for you?" Beowulf wiped the sweat off his forehead and taunted Duma. Duma took the bait and rushed forward, Beowulf saw this and trip kicked Duma into a wall "not really" Beowulf quipped. Duma flipped back up and rushed Beowulf tackling him into the wall of booze, Beowulf elbowed Duma in the back and grabbed him by the fabric of his costume and flipped him through the racks of alcohol causing droves of bottles to crash onto the floor. Beowulf grabbed Duma by the head and reeled back his fist, he then punched Duma across the bar making him break through a wall "what's the matter? Too tough for you?" Duma got up and wiped the alcohol and blood off his his head and yelled "you just made a big mistake child!" Beowulf and Duma then pounced forward at eachother.

Sophia paced around the roof of the building "ugh, I can't believe I'm on the sidelines on MY case, this is so not fair!" She then heard the commotion in the bar "looks like the fun started without me". Sophia went to th edge of the building and looked at the door, right when she did Beowulf came crashing through it "oh man, looks like he needs help" Sophia looked around and saw the fire escape to the building "bingo" she whispered. Beowulf got up and rubbed his head, he noticed Sophia coming down "no, don't-" he was interrupted when he was grabbed by Duma and was dragged across the ground, Duma then flung Beowulf across the ground and into a stall. Beowulf jumped out of the wreckage "man, I do a lot of property damage to this city" Duma paced in place "what's wrong hero? Can't keep up?" Beowulf smirked under his mask. Duma was ambushed by a clone and held in a full nelson, Duma became noticeably weaker in the legs until he took off with the clone and quickly dispatching it. Duma appeared infront of Beowulf and shrugged his shoulders before punching Beowulf knocking him down.

Beowulf began to think "gotta formulate a plan but I need time, and this guy isn't gonna give me any" Beowulf suddenly created a number of clones, this bewildered Duma and Beowulf took the opportunity, one of the clones grabbed Beowulf's arms and swung him making him dropkick Duma, the clone then tossed Beowulf to Sophia while they attacked Duma. Beowulf landed infront of Sophia "I need your help" Beowulf stated with Sophia crossing her arms in response "I coulda told ya that" Beowulf reached behind himself and revealed a jewelry box "I'm gonna have to give you this" Sophia's eyes lit up "a Miraculous?" Beowulf nodded "Sophia Briggar, this is the Miraculous of the Spider that grants the power of ensnare, you will use it for the greater good" Sophia picked up the jewelry box and opened it to reveal a hair tie.


	11. Spider Web

Sophia saw a glowing orb form around the Miraculous, the orb circled her and she looked at it in awe, the orb stopped infront of her and a Kwami appeared, it was dark purple with a spider design on its forhead and fangs, it also had six arms "who are you?" Sophia asked "my name is Byyte and I'm your Kwami" Sophia picked up the hair tie and studied it, the spider on it was made out of gemstones and it shined in the moonlight. Sophia took off her own hair tie and let her silver hair drape over her face "this is the reason for the hair tie" she stated before putting up her hair with the Miraculous. Byyte then explained "I can grant you the power of ensnarement which can slow down your enemies, all you have to say is Byyte, Fangs Out" Sophia nodded "Byyte! Fangs Out!" Byyte was sucked into the Miraculous and Sophia began to transform

Sophia transformed, her costume was a combination of dark purple and gold, she was wearing a spandex bodysuit with a bright red spider design in the middle of her chest and a fluorescent green visor covering her eyes, her hair was now black and white in a spiky ponytail, she wore dark purple platform shoes that were a lighter shade of purple on the bottom, she had four spider legs on the sides of her body that hugged the underside of her chest and the top of her pelvis. Sophia opened her eyes and looked at her hands, they were tipped with claws and the nails were a vibrant gold "woah, I can feel the power coursing through me!" Beowulf smiled and said "great, now to activate your powers you just have to say 'Snare' got it?" Sophia nodded "also, when the job is done you will return the Miraculous to me" Sophia nodded again and they jumped down to confront Duma.

The last of the clones clawed Duma in the back causing him to yelp in pain, one of Duma's spots popped off and expanded, he grabbed the disc and dispatched the clone with it. his attention was directed to Beowulf and the new mystery hero "you brought a friend along?" Beowulf nodded "that's right, she's...uh, what do we call you?" Sophia thought for a moment "Arachna, yeah, that's good!" Arachna charged forward at Duma but was hit by a shoulder check that sent her sliding "let me try that again" Arachna charged again, Duma laughed and was gone in the blink of an eye, Arachna counted on this and slid across the ground tripping Duma. Beowulf saw his opportunity and roundhouse kicked the villain in the chest while he was in midair, Duma was sent sprawling but got up quickly and began pacing in place "interesting" Arachna whispered "you see it too huh?" Beowulf asked with Arachna's silence confirming it "okay, now let's formulate a plan" Arachna nodded "yeah, let's slow him down a bit" Arachna's shoes suddenly began to glow and she began to sprint towards Duma. Duma anticipated the attack from Arachna and prepared to counter, Arachna smirked reeled her leg back and kicked forward, suddenly a beam of purple light shot out of Arachna's shoes and flew past Duma "WOAH!" Duma exclaimed before dodging the beam "hah, you missed!" Duma laughed, Arachna suddenly jumped onto the beam of light and began to grind on it with the indentions in her shoes. Arachna flew past Duma catching his attention, Beowulf took the opportunity and rushed Duma slashing his chest with his claws and knocking him down.

Duma rolled onto the ground and Arachna jumped off the light rail towards Duma, the spider legs on Arachna's body detached and extended, she dug the spider legs into the ground and surrounded Duma. Duma popped back up and tried to escape only to be smacked by one of Arachna's legs "sorry Speedy, you're not going anywhere" Duma looked up at her and smiled and began running in circles creating a tornado and lifting Arachna off the ground, Duma stopped the tornado and jumped toward Arachna, Duma spun in the air and kicked Arachna into a building. Beowulf jumped up and grabbed Duma by the ankle with the intent to throw him but was quickly kicked off himself and crashed into the ground, Beowulf got up and was met by a divekick by Duma, Duma stayed on top of Beowulf sliding and grinding him into the ground, Duma stopped and jumped off of Beowulf and landed boeing before pacing again.

Duma taunted Beowulf "wow, you really are new to this Miraculous thing aren't you boy?" Beowulf responded "I've been getting the hang of it, just like my friend" Duma's face changed from cocky to concerned as he spun around to see Arachna was nowhere to be seen, he looked back and was met by a gut punch from Beowulf, the punch lifted Duma off the ground. Beowulf tensed his right hand "Wolfsbane!" Beowulf hit Duma with a monstrous right hook, the punch sent Duma flying and Beowulf consumed Duma's powers "Devour the Power!" Beowulf's costume became cheetah patterned. Beowulf sped towards Duma who was still in the air, Beowulf grabbed Duma by the ankle and began spinning him, Beowulf then threw Duma over the skyline "Arachna! Now!"

Arachna suddenly appeared "Snare!" she screamed as purple strings of light shot out of her spider legs forming a net, Duma flew straight into the net and Arachna spun four more strands and attached them to walls and hung the net above the street. Duma attempted to struggle but was completely immobolized, Duma suddenly fell unconcious and Arachna crawled down to retrieve his Miraculous. Beowulf smelt the air and looked down the street, he saw something moving fast "get that Miraculous, I'll take care of whatever is coming" Beowulf sped towards the moving object, the object became more clear, it was a person and they were gliding off the ground, dust was kicked up from the force that was propelling them forward, they clearly had a Miraculous. Beowulf reeled back and threw a haymaker but the person maneuvered above Beowulf's fist and flew past him, Beowulf's head quickly turned back to see Arachna get kicked off the net. The Miraculous holder grabbed onto the net with what seemed to be talons and lift it up into the sky, Beowulf sprinted towards them catching the Bird Miraculous holder's attention, they turned and Beowulf could see that they were female, she smirked and inhaled right before unleashing a scream that tore up the ground and took Beowulf off his feet.

Beowulf rolled on the ground but managed to recover right as she flew away with Duma, she turned her head and stared at Beowulf and winked while pursing her lips. Beowulf sighed with Arachna joining him "c'mon, we should get to your house before you transform back" Beowulf stated with Arachna nodding with not another word uttered. Beowulf and Arachna arrived at Sophia's house "Byyte, Fangs In" Arachna transformed back and took off her Miraculous "thanks for letting me help you, it was incredible being a Superhero" Beowulf nodded and took the Miraculous putting it back in the jewelry box and turned to leave but was stopped by Sophia calling after him "hey!...do yoy know a guy named Benjamin Williams?" Beowulf looked at her "pardon?" Sophia explained further "black hair, pale, about 5'7, kinda cute in my opinion" Beowulf sighed "yes, he's kinda my informant, I'm considering giving a Miraculous to him aswell" Sophia nodded "okay, well, tell him to be careful out there, the informant for you could be at risk if anyone found out" Beowulf nodded "I'll forward your message to him" Beowulf lept away and de-transformed back "did you guys hear that?" Prowwl and Sturnn both had different answers "that Sophia deeply cares for you and your safety?" Prowwl asked "that she pries too much?" Sturnn remarked, Ben shook his head "those are all fine and good but...she thinks I'm cute!" Prowwl sighed "that's the most important thing you learned from this ordeal?" Ben laughed "man, I really do have some dynamite friends don't I?" Prowwl nodded "that you do Benjamin, that you do".


	12. Shock Therapy

Tremaine sat in his office looking at his remaining Pseudo Miraculous, Jeffords approached him "sir, our profits have taken a hit, we have lost 50 of our petty crime employees this month and more are whispering desertion" Tremaine clenched his fist "this Beowulf and his Miraculous pals have gotta go" suddenly the lights in his office began to flicker "oh great" Tremaine voiced "it seems Mr. Fink has arrived" the door to Tremaine's office opened and a man slinked in, he was tall and skinny and he had a crooked smile and was shifty looking, his hair was black at the roots but was dyed blond the rest of the way "hey Tremaine, long time no see" Tremaine sighed "look Fink, you know why I called you here so if you've got nothing else to say you can go and get the job done". Fink laughed "well, if you insist, do you mind if I have a little...fun with him?" Tremaine sighed "I don't micromanage, do whatever you want" Fink cackled out the door, his laugh echoed through the building.

Ben opened his eyes to see the sun shining through his window, he turned over and grabbed his phone and looked at it, the screen was twitching and static flickered within it "huh, guess I can't check the time" Ben got up and went to the kitchen where his dad was struggling to get the TV to work and his mom was trying to get her laptop to work "looks like nothing electronic is working" Ben though, his dad screamed in frustration and put the remote down "nothing is working today" Ben's mom went over to him and said "there's no school today sweetie so go ahead and sleep in" Ben nodded and went back into his room. Ben looked at his two Kwami "I think we should pay a visit to the power plant, just a hunch I have" Ben got dressed and went onto his balcony "Sturnn! Let's-" he stopped short when he saw people looking up, they didn't see him "damn, without their phones people are a lot more aware of their surroundings, let's go on foot and find a safe place to transform".

Ben opened the door to his house to see people raising their phones trying to get a signal. Ben walked down the street and saw a dark alley with a dumpster, Ben sighed "guess it'll do" Ben went behind the dumpster and transformed, Beowulf swung across the city and saw the power plant and people huddled around it. Beowulf landed on the otherside of the fence and the workers attention was caught, the overseer approached Beowulf "what's the situation here?" the overseer answered "we have yet to figure out the problem, it should not be affecting phones this way" Beowulf thought for a second "could it have been an EMP?" The Overseer laughed "if it was an EMP, you woulda heard something" Beowulf thought to himself "but what if it wasn't an EMP, but a frequence being emitted". Beowulf lept away and made his way up a large skyscraper, his eyes scanned the surrounding area "nothing...let's take a whiff of the city" Beowulf opened his muzzle and breathed in "ooooh, man this city stinks...wait, fresh water, swamp water, last time I swung around the city there's no swamp in New York".

Beowulf followed the scent to an abandoned subway tunnel "of course, follow trouble, find creepy subway entrance" Beowulf jumped down the stairs and looked around "man, this place is dark...wait, I have an idea" Beowulf then took out the Bat Miraculous "really wish this wasn't a hat pin" right when he said that the Miraculous began to glow and change, the Miraculous suddenly became a pair of cufflinks "huh, well ain't that a kick in the pants" Beowulf put the cufflinks on and a Kwami appeared, the Kwami was brown with bright green eyes "I am Scree and I-" Scree stopped and looked at Beowulf "you're using another Miraculous, do you know how dangerous it is to mix them?" Beowulf scoffed "I saw Ladybug do it on TV years ago, I think I can handle it, Sturnn, Scree, Unify!" Beowulf's costume became brown and blue and he had small bat wings under his arms "Batwolf!" he roared before making his way into the tunnel.

Batwolf went to the entrance of the tunnel and screamed sending purple waves throughout the tunnel "there's one big obstruction about 100 feet in, looks like this day is gonn get a little more interesting". Batwolf went down the tunnel where he could hear the crackling of electricity and the smell of swamp water mixed with burnt toast, since the Bat Miraculous limited his eyesight and how dim the tunnel was, he was basically blind. Batwolf stopped around a corner as he knew whatever was here was just around the corner "Divide" he whispered and he returned to being Beowulf, Beowulf looked around the corner to see a Miraculous Holder standing at a power box and draining the electricity. Beowulf got his chain ready and popped around the corner to see nothing "what?" Beowulf said completely perplexed, suddenly a voice behind him asked "looking for me?" Beowulf turned but was too late to block the giant punch that hit him straight into a wall "y'know, Pangolin told me you were a bit headstrong but man...you really don't like planning your moves huh?" Beowulf growled "I'll show you" Beowulf then did a handstand and sprang towards the villain, the villain suddenly tucked his head into what seemed to be his shell and dodged the kick. Beowulf felt a larg hand grab his legs and he was slammed into the tracks, Beowulf kicked off his hands and rushed him while he was off balance, Beowulf reeled back his fist and punched the villain in the stomach "oof" he said while the air left his body, Beowulf grabbed his head and delivered a powerful knee to his face, Beowulf finishes by jumping back and cracking him across the face with his whip.

Beowulf twirled his whip around in anticipation "not bad, kinda felt that one, but now I've gotta take you to school, your instructor is Shellshock!" Shellshock suddenly crackled with electricity and he threw his hands forward flinging strands of electricity toward Beowulf. Beowulf dove out of the way and barely avoided the attack, he could feel the hair underneath his costume stand on end, Shellshock swung his arms and the strands picked up from the ground and flew toward Beowulf. Beowulf jumped over the strands and landed on one foot, he quickly pivoted and jumped toward Shellshock, Shellshock smiled and swung his arms catching Beowulf with the strands and shocking him relentlessly. Beowulf screamed in pain as the electricity coursed through his body making every single nerve in his body to ignite, Shellshock made the strands dissipate and Beowulf slumped to the floor "oops, looks like I broke him" Beowulf couldn't hear him as his ears were ringing, his vision was blurry and his body felt like it was entirely numb.

Shellshock walked over, his weight made his steps echo through the tunnel, he grabbed Beowulf by the back of the neck and lifted him to eye level "I'm not like the others, I won't let you adapt to me like you do the others" Beowulf could feel his fingers again but was playing oppossum. Shellshock reeled back his fist to finish off Beowulf, Beowulf suddenly grabbed Shellshock's arm that had him and swung back and then forward kicking Shellshock in the mouth, Beowulf wriggled out of his grip and punched Shellshock in the midsection as hard as he could causing Shellshock to bend over. Beowulf put his hands together and hit Shellshock over the head sending him into the ground, Beowulf caught his breath and grabbed the large shell-like section of Shellshock's costume and began lifting him, Beowulf yelled and used all of his strength to toss Shellshock into the tunnel wall on the opposite side.

Beowulf breathed heavily and looked at Shellshock, his costume made his body look bigger, his entire body was encased in a shell that had three rows of spikes running down it and his arms and legs were covered in scales. Beowulf walked over determined to finish this when his attention was caught by a familiar sound coming from deep within the tunnel, Beowulf looked over to see the familiar sihouette of wings. Beowulf stood there ready, right as the figure got to him Beowulf dodged and grabbed the figure by the leg and slammed them into the tunnel wall, the person grunted in pain an Beowulf could hear that it was a woman. The person tried to take off but Beowulf kept holding on, Beowulf jumped up onto her back and let her take off out of the subway tunnel. Once they were out Beowulf struck her in the back with his elbow and took her down causing both of them to slide across the road, Beowulf turned her around and reeled back but was kicked off by her. Beowulf landed on his feet and she got to hers. Beowulf finally got a good look at her, her costume looked like samurai armor, only thinner and had a segmented pattern, the spandec underneath was black with red flowers scattering it, she had kabuki makeup and her hair was short with the ends dyed red, extending from her back were two large wings that were red most of the way with silver tips "Pangolin was correct about you being a nuisance" Beowulf scoffed "well I am pretty stubborn, anyway, which flunky are you?" She laughed "banter, how fun. What does it matter to you?" Beowulf shrugged "I'd like to know the names of the people I trounce" she shrugged aswell "you won't live long enough to tell anyone sooooo why not? Call me Tengu" Tengu suddenly lifted off the ground and flew toward Beowulf, Beowulf threw a kick but Tengu maneuvered above him, Beowulf counted on this and threw his leg up catching her in the back with a kick, Beowulf grabbed her ankles and slammed her into the pavement.

Tengu gritted her teeth and growled in frustration before trying to slash Beowulf with her talons, Beowulf jumped back "hey, take it easy, anger makes you sloppy" Tengu looked visibly frustrated and rocketed into the sky, Tengu blotted the sun and dove straight at Beowulf with her foot extended determined to impale him on her talon, Beowulf sidestepped out of the way causing Tengu to lose control of herself and crash into a car, Tengu bursted out of the wreckage and slashed at Beowulf with her wings, Beowulf maneuvered through her attacks which made her swing harder and faster, she did a wide sweeping slash which Beowulf had to jump back, Beowulf landed in a crouching position. From that position Beowulf lept forward and kicked Tengu sending her flying into a lightpole knocking it down and landing on her "your Miraculous" Beowulf stated with Tengu responding "what about it?" Beowulf pointed at her anklet "it's a real one, just like mine, you don't have the explosive power of a Pseudo-Miraculous but it's more stable, and yet, you probably haven't fought anyone like me have you?" Tengu sliced the lightpole in half and flew upward "what does it matter to you?" Beowulf made a tch sound and retorted "you're no match for me, that's why it matters, I may not have as much time with my Miraculous as you have, but I've fought a number of villains with many different powers, this is probably the first time you've had to fight someone with any kind of Miraculous" Tengu growled at him but her frustrated expression quickly turned into twisted glee. Beowulf raised an eyebrow in suspicion but he made a quick realization, he had forgotten about Shellshock. Beowul whirled around only to be met by a large blast of electricity that sent Beowulf reeling, Beowulf was brought to his knees from the blast, he could hear Tengu cacckling and Shellshock's heavy footsteps, this fight just go a whole lot harder.


	13. Thunderstruck

Tengu flew down infront of Beowulf and landed with Shellshock joining her"well this is is a shocking turn of events" Shellshock cackled while Beowulf and Tengu groaned in response "can we please finish this? The longer we take, the less we get paid" Shellshock grunted "fine, fine, fine, ruin the fun why don't cha" Shellshock reached down to grab Beowulf, Beowulf suddenly did a flip kick and hit Shellshock in the jaw. Shellshock fell back and Tengu responded with a kick to Beowulf's midsection, Beowulf was sent backwards but caught himself with his hands and, from that position he sprung and donkey kicked Tengu away. Shellshock charged at Beowulf attempting to bear hug him, Beowulf jumped up and vaulted over Shellshock and landed behind him "sorry big boss Bowser, gonna have to lose a few tons before you can catch me" Shellshock turned and was met with a spin kick to the cheek.

Shellshock and Tengu re-grouped, they were both more defensive in their stance, Beowulf took out the flail and twirled in his hands "so...hogtie or back to back tie?" Tengu glided towards him "we'll be the ones to tie you up, hopefully by your neck!" Beowulf dodged her wild rush and tied her ankles with his flail and was pulled away by her, Beowulf grabbed onto a lightpole and held her there, Beowulf yelled and pulled the flail tugging Tengu back and was slammed right into Shellshock knocking them both down. Beowulf lept down from the pole and dusted off his shoulder "y'know, out of all the freaks that Pangy has thrown at me, you guys are the most fun to thrash" Tengu got up and laughed "yup, we are pretty fun to thrash, aren't we? So much fun that you've lost track of time, haven't you?" Beowulf was suddenly confused "I'm sorry, but it sounds like you planned to get thrashed" Tengu went over to Shellshock and took off his brooch reverting him into Fink "y'know, Shellshock's powers should have only effected electronics that have been plugged in, but phones aren't limited to that...are they?" Beowulf suddenly had a realization "Tremaine Tower!" He screamed in his head as he flung his flail and began to swing only to be blindsided by a kick from Tengu, Beowulf managed to catch a fire escape and jumped off of it hitting Tengu with a spin kick sending her straight into the ground.

Beowulf kept swinging until he made it to the top of Tremaine Tower, he saw Tremaine and someone with a Miraculous standing there, he also noticed the Miraculous Wielder holding their hand to a computer and blue data was being transmitted from the person to the computer. "Tremaine!" Beowulf yelled with Tremaine responding without even looking at him "looks like those two kept ya distracted for a good long while" Beowulf flung his flail at the Miraculous Wielder but it was caught by Tremaine. Tremaine let go of the flail and said "you two can handle this" Beowulf got confused until he heard familiar voices from behind him "with pleasure sir".

Beowulf was blindsided by a heavy claw swipe from Shellshock that sent him sliding across the roof, Beowulf caught himself before he slid off the edge and stood up, Beowulf was caught off guard when Tengu rushed him and tried to push him off the edge, Beowulf grabbed onto her talons and began pushing trying to hold her back. Tengu began cackling "what's wrong little wolf? Scared of heights?" Beowulf got an idea and suddenly let Tengu push him off, Beowulf and Tengu went off the side and Beowulf swung forward and let go of her talons swinging back onto the building. Shellshock rushed Beowulf but Beowulf grabbed him and circle threw him over the edge, Shellshock fell onto Tengu and both of them plummeted creating a large crash sound when they hit the ground.

Beowulf dusted himself off and turned his attention to Tremaine "that's two for four tonight Tremaine, let's see if I can't get a perfect score" Tremaine cracked his neck and was about to transform but Beowulf rushed in and dropkicked Tremaine through a door leading into the building. Beowulf rushed the Miraculous Wielder, before the person could retaliate Beowulf pulled off his pin and he transformed back. Beowulf grabbed the man by the wrist so he didn't fall, he helped the man back onto the building and pocketed the Pseudo-Miraculous. Tremaine appeared in the doorway obviously stiff from the hit "you really do have a death wish, don't ya kid?" Beowulf shrugged "not really, just have a knack for stopping bad guys" Tremaine got ready to fight but noticed that Beowulf wasn't trying to fight "what's the matter kid? Lost ya nerve?" Beowulf then pointed behind himself and Tremaine noticed news helicopters in the sky "I hope you aren't camera shy Tremaine, because if we tussle now, there'll be a live audience".

Tremaine huffed in frustration and went over to the former Miraculous Wielder "hey Marcus, you're fired!" Tremaine then punched Marcus with so much force Beowulf thought he had killed him. Beowulf was about to do something but Tremaine put up his hand "he's alive, if I wantes to kill him, I'd've taken his head off" Beowulf and Tremaine stood there with the helicopters circling overhead, Tremaine approached Beowulf and stuck out his hand "c'mon Hero, 'we' saved the day, let's keep up public opinion" Beowulf stuck his hand out to meet Tremaine's...Beowulf slapped Tremaine's hand away and jumped off the side of the building swinging away. Tremaine smirked and turned to see that his laptop was gone "WHAT?!" He screamed, Beowulf landed on a building and rubbed the laptop he had beneath his arm "okay little dude, we'll see what Tremaine was trying to find out" Beowulf smelled the familiar scent of swamp water and dodged a lightning bolt "seriously? You two flunkies again?" Beowulf looked behind him to see Shellshock and Tengu "you lumbering oaf! You could have destroyed the laptop!" Shellshock scoffed "worst case scenario is I blast it and he doesn't get the data" Beowulf interrupted then by jumping up and dropkicking Shellshock off the side of the building "Correction: Worst Case Scenario is you destroy the laptop and Tremaine dines Turtle Soup with a side of Chicken Wings".

Tengu flew down and kicked Beowulf off the building, Beowulf caught a lampost and slid down. Tengu flew infront of Beowulf and threw out a flipkick that Beowulf dodged delivered a kick to her midsection, Tengu flew back and caught herself and began to hover above the buildings "Tempest!" She shouted as wind began to blast out of her wings, Tengu then flapped her wings and the wind began to form into a twister. Beowulf felt himself getting pulled into it, Shellshock laughed and put strands of electricity down and letting them get swept up by the twister electrifying it "you are so screwed Furball" Shellshock joked with both the villains laughing at Beowulf as he tried to hold his ground but the vortex was too strong, Beowulf thought fast and threw his flail to a lamp post and held on "c'mon Ben. think" Beowulf thought to himself. Beowulf glanced back to see Tengu concentrating to hold the twister together "interesting" Beowulf thought to himself "that's it!" He exclaimed.

Beowulf began to pull himself toward the lamp post, electricity occassionally shocked him as he pulled, once he got to it he grabbed on and positioned himself on the other side. Beowulf breathed in deeply and jumped toward the pavement almost immediately began getting pulled by the twister "Wolfsbane!" Beowulf shouted right before punching the ground causing large chunks of debris to go into the twister "GAAAAH!" Tengu screamed as more weight was being put on her. Beowulf then got sucked into the twister, Beowulf was about to enact his plan but a piece of road hit him and sent him spiralling. Beowulf looked around frantically as he was completely turned around, his breathing was heavy and exacerabated and he kept getting shocks from the electricity within the twister, Beowulf tried to calm down and remember Donovan's lessons "look past the distraction" Beowulf closed his eyes and breathed, his nose twitched on response to the smell of swamp water "bingo" Beowulf zoned in on the smell and using a piece of debris springed off of it and out of the Tempest where he was right infront of Shellshock.

Beowulf reeled back and punched Shellshock square in the jaw, Beowulf then pulled out an orb and shouted "Devour the Power!" Beowulf's costume became cyan and turquoise, dark blue spikes lined his back and his hair was spiked up with electricity buzzing through his hair. Beowulf turned to Tengu and pointed his wolf arm at her blasting at her with lightning, Tengu broke her concentration and dodged it causing the twister to dissipate. Shellshock felt his jaw "ouch, okay you little shit, time to-" he was cut off by a gut punch from Beowulf "conduct" Beowulf whispered before pulling all the electricity from Shellshock causing his costume to become a dull grey, Shellshock rocked back and forth before falling on his back causing a small shake in the ground. Beowulf deftly dodged a swoop attack from Tengu and took aim at her "Discharge" Beowulf said as a ball of lightning formed in the mouth of his hand and shot at Tengu striking her and surrounding her and shocking her. Beowulf squatted down and jumped toward Tengu, Beowulf reeled back and struck Tengu causing a large dissipation energy that caused the lights of the buildings to flicker and buzz, the impact sounded like thunder and it sent Tengu flying into the clouds.

Beowulf landed on his feet and looked at the hole he had made in the clouds, Beowulf jumped up onto a building and grabbed the laptop "better get this to someone who knows a lot about computers, I think I know who can help me". Beowulf waited until night time to enact his plan, he landed on the roof of a house "this is Arnold's place" Beowulf knocked on the window and Arnold looked at him with genuine shock "first time for everything, Arnold showing actual emotion" Beowulf thought to himself. Arnold went to the window and opened it "Beowulf, it is an honor that you are here" Beowulf came in and looked around "you must be Arnold, my informant told me that you're the guy to see if I need computer computer help" Arnold looked ecstatic "you did come to the right person, I have been working with computers since I was young" Beowulf took the laptop from under his arm and gave it to Arnold "I need you to get into this" Arnold opened it up "oh my, this is a very advanced Tremaine Tech model, how did you get this?" Beowulf responded "I got it from some baddies, they were the cause of that electrical surge business" Arnold put the laptop on his desk and plugged it in "this laptop is encrypted with very complicated security, but nothing I can't get into". Arnold began to work as Beowulf closed the blinds "are your parents home?" Arnold sighed "no, they are ot home much, it is me here most of the time, anyway, it appears that this laptop was used to gather information on citizens, extracting the information from their devices and then logging them, looking for keywords like 'Hero', 'Beowulf' and mostly slang terms used by people of my age group and slightly older" Beowulf leaned against a wall "so, he was trying to find out who was talking about me and then find out who I am" Arnold backed away from the computer and grabbed a flashdrive and plugged it into the laptop "this will disable the tracking program within it, and record the data". Arnold unplugged the drive and gave it to Beowulf "use it well Mr. Beowulf, I am glad to have helped you" Beowulf took it and exited "you did good, Arnold".

Ben walked into school the next day to see Arnold on the ground with a number of students surrounding him, "what the hell?" Ben ran over to see Grayson standing over Arnold "Get Up!" Grayson yelled with Arnold struggling to get up "I said get up!" Grayson yelled before throwing a kick into Arnold's side. Ben rushed over and shoved Grayson to the ground, Grayson scrambled to his feet "what the hell are you doing Timothy?" Ben asked with Grayson gritting his teeth "stay outta this! And don't call me Timothy!" Ben stood inbetween Grayson and Arnold "look, whatever is happening, there is no reason to mess with Arnold" Grayson scoffed "this loser said Beowulf came to him for help, as if a Hero like him would waste his time with a shmuck like this guy" Arnold coughed "he did, he only comes to good people, that is why he has never come to you" Grayson grumbled and advanced but Ben stopped him with his hand "don't do this, it'll get uglier" Grayson gave no warning amd swung at Ben, Ben leaned back and dodged it before countering him with a cross to the jaw causing Grayson to stumble back, Grayson felt his lip and drew blood, his spiky black hair appeared to flare up in anger "That tears it!" Grayson threw a wild haymaker but Ben ducked hit and jabbed Grayson in the cheek, Grayson tried to recover but was met with a right hook from Ben that sent him spinning and onto the ground. The 'oooh's from the crowd said it all, Grayson scrambled to his feet and jabbed only for it to be swatted by Ben who hit him with another hook to the temple, the hit made Grayson stumble. Grayson breathed hard and heavy before rushing Ben with a series of wild blows, Ben dodged and blocked the hits landing a bodyshot to the solar plexus in all the commotion. Grayson bent down in pain and backed up, Grayson yelled and rushed again only to be met by a left hook from Ben that threw him for a loop, Ben reeled back and hit him with a right hook that took Grayson off his feet and onto the concrete. Ben breathing was heavy, he stood above Grayson's unconcious body, it was over, a couple of Grayson's toadies came over to confront Ben, Ben was ready to fight but it was interrupted by the Principal arriving to breake up the fight "Mr. Williams, see me in my office at once!" He shouted "and get Mr. Grayson and Mr. Schmidt to the nurse's office and if they are able, send them to my office".

Ben sat in Principal Delmore's office "Mr. Williams, you are aware that this school has certain standards yes?" Ben nodded "and this kind of behavior is unacceptable, yes?" Ben nodded again "so tell me Benjamin, why didn't you think about that before knocking out one of your fellow classmates?" Ben responded "if I didn't step in, Timothy was going to hurt Arnold" Delmore retorted "wouldn't it have been a smart decision to get a teacher to help" Ben responded "if I hadn't stepped in, who knows what Timothy would've done to Arnold" Delmore sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose "look, Benjamin, I'm not going to sit here and say what you did was neccessarily wrong, but there are better ways to handle it, now since you were defending yourself I see no reason to expel you or give you a suspension" Ben sighed by Delmore quickly dashed his relief "but, you will be doing a week of detention, and I will set up a meeting between you, Mr. Grayson, your parents, and his parents, I will notify your family today".

Ben left the office and was as white as a sheet, Sophia saw him and came over to him "Ben! I heard what happened, are you okay?" Ben nodded "yeah, worst thing about this was the stern talking to by Principal Delmore, other than that I'm fine" Sophia sighed "good, how's Arnold?" Ben shrugged "let's go to the nurse's office to check up on him" Sophia nodded and they walked to the nurse's office where they saw Arnold just finishing up his visit "hey Arnold, how ya holdin' up?" Ben asked with Arnold responding "I am fine, some minor bruising near my ribcage is of note however" Sophoa sighed and hugged Arnold "so glad you didn't get hurt" Arnold smiled "it is good to habe friends like you all" Ben smiled, but that smile quickly turned to a stern scowl when he saw Grayson getting his checkup, he had an icepack on his cheek and temple and was visibly upset. Ben put his hand on Arnold's shoulder "c'mon, we need to get to class" Arnold nodded and the three headed to class, Ben and the others met up with Mason outside the classroom "hey, Arnold, I heard what happened today, don't worry, if any of Grayson's goons try to mess with out I'll be there" Arnold nodded "thank you Mason, I appreciate your concern" Mason turned his attention to Ben "and you, nice job introducing Grayson to the floor" Ben felt embarrassed from the statement. The three walked into class to the awkward stares of their peers. Ben sat at his desk and sunk into his jacket, he felt like he wanted to disappear as he heard the whispers of his classmates. Mrs. Moirah tapped her desk with a ruler "settle down everyone, let's put this morning's events behind us, we have two new students" Ben noticed two people standing beside Mrs. Moirah "this is Akemi Nakamura and Kaori Nakamura, they transferred here from Japan, I want you all to make them feel welcome".

Akemi stepped forward and bowed "it's a pleasure to meet you all, I have researched America extensively so I will try to not inconvenience any of you" Kaori blew her hair out of her face, Ben felt like he was looking at two people from alternate universes, Akemi stood in a prim and proper position, she had neat bangs and her hair was dark and shiny, she wore a blue and white dotted romper and white sneakers. Kaori looked identical to her sistet except she wore heavier make-up and her hair was in a bobcut and had different colored streaks in it, she wore a longsleeve red shirt and a corset top with a black skirt and red and black striped stockings with black hightops, both the sisters wore anklets, Akemi had one on her left ankle and Kaori had one on her right "thank you girls, why don't you both have a seat in the front?" The Sisters nodded and took their seats as Mrs. Moirah began the lesson. Ben stared out the window at Tremaine Tower, Tremaine is getting bolder and Ben felt determination swell within him, he needed to stop Tremaine soon, but he'll probably need help along th way.


	14. The Meeting

Ben arrived at the meeting room, the fog around the school was ominous as it made his brain focus on the sounds around him. Ben opened the door where he saw his parents had already arrived, the table they were seated at was oval shaped and the room had a eerie blue tinge to it, Ben looked at his parents, his father was as stern faced as ever and his mother had genuine concern on his face. Ben sat between the two and his father sighed "Ben...what were you thinking?" His mother stopped him "calm down Richard, I'm sure Ben has an explaination for his actions" his father backed off just as Principal Delmore walked in "ah, Mr and Mrs Williams, it's a pleasure to see both of you again, the fog outside is quite thick don't you think?" Delmore shook hands with Ben's parents "Mr. Grayson and Timothy have just arrived and will be here shortly. Ben sighed as he tuned out what his parents and Mr. Delmore were talking about, he couldn't help but think about how he was going to take out Tremaine and if he could get past all of his Miraculous Wielders. The door to the meeting room suddenly opened and Grayson walked in, followed by his father, Tremaine, Ben nearly fell out of his chair but caught himself "you okay Benji?" His mom asked with Ben nodding, although that was far from true.

Ben could feel the blood race through his veins, his heart thumped in his chest and he began to sweat as the Graysons took their seats "well, now that everyone is here, let's get this meeting started". Principal Delmore explained to Tremaine "as you may know, we are here to settle the differences between Mr. Williams and Mr. Grayson, the altercation from yesterday was...unsightly and I wish to bring these two together and bury the hatchet" Tremaine started talking "lemme just preface this by saying I take full responsibility for my son's actions, I do think my son deserves the punishment he was given, with that being said, I do request your son take up boxing, that kinda talent is rare to come by" Ben could tell that Timothy was getting antsy but his attention was mostly on not making it obvious that he was genuinely afraid and hated the situation he was in. Ben's father responded "this is just as much Ben's fault as it is your son's, if he hadn't stepped in and let a teacher handle it- " Ben cut his father off "then Arnold would've gotten more hurt that he did" Tremaine looked at Ben with intrigue and his father snapped his head towards him shooting a glare into him. Principal Delmore leaned towards Ben and raised his voice "Mr. Williams!" Tremaine put his hand up "wait, I wanna know what this young man has ta say" Ben looked Tremaine right in the eyes and planted his hands on the table "I was protecting my friend, I wasn't gonna sit there and let my friend get hurt, someone needed to protect Arnold right then and there" Tremain put his elbows on the table and interlocked his fingers over his mouth "so...you were protecting the little guy, for what reason?" Ben froze, he didn't want to spill why Arnold was beaten up, if he did, Tremaine might target Arnold because of his connection to him. Timothy interjected "Arnold was blabbing on how he helped Beowulf, he was lying so I put him in his place" Ben glared at Timothy that made him back off a bit "it doesn't matter if he was lying or not, you had no right to do that to him!" Timothy stood up from his chair as did Ben. Tremaine grabbed his son's jacket sleeve and yanked him back into his chair, Ben slowly got back into his chair aswell.

Ben's mother spoke up "my son is no delinquent, he never showed this kind of behavior before, I don't know where it came from" Mr. Delmore responded "well, as you know, moving from a completely different state can have an effect on someone, Ben is probably frustrated about the change of the environment and lashed out, not to mention the standerdized tests are in two weeks which puts more stress on our students" Tremaine sighed "look Delmore, I personally don't think this kid did anything wrong, he was looking out for his own. I admire that" Ben felt his skin crawl, getting praise from Tremaine made him feel like he was one of his goons. Delmore pinched the bridge of his nose "now that we've aired our grievances about Benjamin, how about we discuss Timothy" Ben felt as if he wasn't even a part of the conversation despite the fact he and Timothy were the center if the conversation.

Delmore began "Timothy...has had a hard time getting along with other students" Tremaine interrupted Delmore "don't sugarcoat it Delmore, by boy's got a knack for pickin' fights and gets along well with nobody. No two ways about it, my son is the problem here" Delmore was taken aback by his words and Timothy seemed to shrink in his seat, he felt betrayed by his father, he felt like his father wasn't trying to protect him like he should, he just wanted to disappear. Ben started to feel sympathy for Timothy, having a sadistic crimelord as a dad must be rough, does he even know who his dad is? Delmore felt cornered "o-okay, well I can give Timothy the same punishment as Benjamin" Tremaine sighed again "no, my son is the one who started it and assaulted this 'Arnold' kid" Delmore tried to reason "Mr. Grayson, I'm sure-" Tremaine interrupted him again "don't give my boy any special treatment, I know you feel like you have to make me happy because I help fund the school, but it's not necessary, I want my son to be given the same treatment as any other student" Delmore adjusted his collar "w-well, if I was dealing with another student I would suspend them for two weeks" Ben and Timothy looked at Delmore in shock, if he had been dealing with any other person he would have been harsher.

Delmore fixed his tie and got up "well then, I believe we're done here, it's been a pleasure meeting with all of you" Ben's parents shook hands with Delmore and Tremaine "now boys, shake hands and prove that this debacle is truly behind you" Ben outstretched his hand, Timothy looked Ben in the eyes and read "this is just as awful for me as it is for you" Timothy sighed and shook Ben's hand. Delmore clapped his hands "well then, this has been very progressive towards our goal of a conflict-free school" Ben nearly laughed at the statement but he managed to hold it in. Delmore adjustes his glasses and looked at Ben and Timothy "Mr. Williams, Mr. Grayson, please wait outside so that I can talk to your parents in private" Ben and Grayson stepped outside, Grayson sat on the floor leaning back against a wall, Ben stood there with his ear leaning against the door trying to listen in on the conversation. Grayson finally spoke up "you hear anything?" Ben sighed "nothing, they're talking too soft" Grayson grunted in frustration and shot up from his seated position.

Grayson paced around and kicked anything he could find "Dammit!" He said sharply under his breath, Ben sighed and kicked up some dirt "this is so unfair, how come we're left in the dark about things happening to us?" Grayson looked at Ben "yeah, how 'bout we get a say in our lives for once?" Ben nodded with Grayson ranting further "my dad never listens to me, he only wants me to follow whatever he does and stay silent" Ben felt sympathy for Timothy "having a business man like Tremaine must be hard, huh?" Grayson looked at Ben "you don't know the half of it". The boys parents exited the room with Delmore clearing his throat "Benjamin, I'll see you in detention on Monday, Timothy, I am sending you home with the assessment test, you will turn it in when you come back from school in two weeks" Timothy gritted his teeth and was about to say something before Tremaine shot him a glare and he stopped. Ben and Timothy parted ways "I'll...see you in two weeks" Ben said with Timothy looking down "yeah...sure" both families walked away with Ben looking back to see Tremaine and Timothy disappear into the fog.

_I know this chapter is pretty short and is kinda chill, I really wanted to flesh out Timothy's character because I felt like he was just a generic bully character and for sure he is a bully character, that isn't gonna change. With that being said I do want you guys to understand where Timothy's aggression stems from AND add to Ben's growing list of complications in his goal to defeat Pangolin and his legion of Miraculous._


	15. Breakthrough

Ben opened his balcony to see Donovan "this...complicates things" Ben shook his head "no, it doesn't, this is just fluff information, doesn't change a thing" Donovan confronted Ben "it changes more than you think, imagine how Timothy is gonna feel when his dad is beaten down by you right infront of his eyes, Timothy is already a volatile person filled with frustrations and stress, we need to be cautious about this". Ben sighed and leaned against the railing "what are you suggesting?" Donovan answered "we need to find a way to get Tremaine's Miraculous away from him, we've gotta make him desperate, desperate enough to make him slip up, take more risks, hit his income" Ben began thinking "Cobalt is locked up so there's no getting information out of him" Donovan's head shot up "maybe there is".

Ben followed Donovan to an apartment complex "what are we doing here?" Donovan looked at Ben "transform in that alley, then come to this door when I give the signal, this will get us into The Box " Ben was confused about this but went along with it and went into the alleyway "Prowwl! Let's Hunt!" Ben transformed and waited, Donovan appeared around the corner and gave a thumbs up "ask him for a tour of The Box, he'll let you in, he's a fan of yours" Beowulf questioned Donovan's thinking process "are you sure this'll work?" Donovan reassured him "don't worry, somehow, my schemes just have a way of working" Beowulf shrugged and jumped out of the alley and infront of the apartment doorway just as it was opening.

A grey haired man appeared infront of Beowulf "Beowulf? How can I help you?" Beowulf looked at the man "I hear The Box is installing a new security system, I'd like to see it" the man stepped out onto the stoop "I'm surprised you're interested in the intricacies of...prison safety" Beowulf looked at his claws "I just wanna know if the place that I fill up is up to snuff" The man crossed his arms "very well, I was just on my way there, you can tag along with my son and I, by the way, call me Chief Dorris" Ben thought about it "Dorris sounfs familiar" suddenly Ben noticed Mason stepping beside the Chief "Beowulf, this is my son Mason, you're somewhat of a role model to him" Mason looked embarrassed "dad, I admire Beowulf's work, but he's not MY role model" Chief Dorris respondes "then why did you want me to order that Officially Licensed Beowulf poster?" Beowulf felt betrayed "Officially Licensed? Oh someone's got a lawsuit on their hands" Chief Dorris laughed and said "you can catch a ride with us".

Beowulf sat awkwardly in the backseat of Chief Dorris' car, Mason was in the frontseat "dad, did Beowulf really have to sit in the backseat?" Chief Dorris responded "just because Beowulf is a hero, doesn't mean he gets special treatment, frontseat is for family members" Mason sighed "this is so embarrassing". Chief Dorris made it to the gate of the prison, the guard at the booth looked into the car "oh, Chief Dorris...and Beowulf! Oh man, we didn't expect you here! Go right on through!" The guard opened the gate and they drove through. Inside the prison the group was greeted by the warden "ah, Chief Dorris, Mason and...Beowulf" Beowulf noticed a distinct lack of excitement in his voice when he addressed him, the warden was a short and stout man, from a distance he looked like a sack of potatoes, the warden motioned his hand "follow me, I'll show you our new holding cell" Beowulf became suspicious as did the Chief "I thought we were going to see the new security system" The Warden began to stutter "w-well, since you're here as is Beowulf I might aswell show all of you our newest holding cell, and maybe even test it" Beowulf felt a slight sinking feeling in his stomach.

The Warden led them through the prison, Beowulf looked into one of the cells to see Cobalt bunked with Marty Beowulf stood there with his head held high "well, well, well, if it isn't Yin and Yang, surprised they let you guys bunk together" Cobalt grumbled and Marty spat on the floor "hey, who else is here?" A voice from behind Beowulf made itself known "right here, Wolfy" Beowulf turned around to see Johnny "if it isn't old Whalloproo". The Warden cleared his throat "let us move on, I think you're done gloating" Chief Dorris retorted "give him some slack, he did put these guys away afterall" The Warden scoffed and led them deeper into the prison where Beowulf saw Skiz sitting in a cell om his own "Skiz? I'd expect you to be in a pillow room instead of a cell" Skiz didn't respond "Mr. Skiz hasn't been himself since you beat him during your first scuffle, the scuffle that caused quite a bit of property damage I might add" Beowulf rolled his eyes at the comment and kept walking until they reached the very back of the prison where they stopped infront of what appeared to be a bank vault "this is our new State of the art holding cell, it was funded by Tremaine Grayson himself, he said it was to hold the Pangolin when he is eventually captured" Beowulf was internally furious at the statement "are we sure it's a secure holding cell?" The Warden cleared his throat "perhaps...you would like to test it, Mr. Beowulf" Beowulf looked at Mason and Chief Dorris, Chief Dorris encouraged Beowulf "what's the harm?" Beowulf breathed in as The Warden opened the cell, the cell was square and was oddly marble white in appearance, there was a single cot and a toilet with a sink "man, being sentenced to a cell like this must be torture" the door behind Beowulf began to close, Beowulf looked back to see The Warden's face twisted in a sinister grin.

Beowulf charged forward but hit the door as it closed "Dammit! I knew that Warden was up to something" Beowulf shouted, Chief Dorris looked at The Warden "what was that, George?" The Warden looked at Chief Dorris and said "apprehend them" two guards suddenly attacked the Chief and Mason, Mason grabbed the guard and kneed him in the stomach, his father tried to fight back but was tazed and fell to the floor "go Mason! Get help!" His father shouted with Mason taking off down the hall "oh, Benson, you know we'll catch him" The Warden taunted before pulling out his walkie talkie "all guards be aware of Mason Dorris, apprehend if necessary, use lethal force if needed". Beowulf punched and slashed at the door but it was no use "man, they really dod think of everything when they designed this thing, I don't think my special attack would be enough...but maybe I don't have to open this cell myself".

The guards watched the surveillance footage of Beowulf sitting on the bed, Beowulf suddenly spawned his clones and covered the camera with a bedsheet, one of the guards informed The Warden "sir, Beowulf is making his move" The Warden chuckled "release the tranq gas" Beowulf saw the ports on the ceiling open "okay boys, let's dazzle em" Beowulf's clones lifted up comforter and prison inmate uniform in the room, covering the vents, they then used their claws to pin it all in place "perfect" Beowulf whispered before going to one of the panels in the room and prying it off the wall and locating the pipe that supplied the gas, Beowulf reached in and twisted the pipe causing pressure to build up. The Warden waited for a few minutes "send in a squad guards, he should be out by now" the squad of guards equipped themselves with gas masks entered the cell pointing their stun guns at the clones, Beowulf dropped down from above taking their gas masks and kicking them further into the cell, his clones followed him out of cell, he looked back to the guards and uttered "boom" before closing the cell door behind him and hearing a distinct exploding sound "hehe, night night fellas".

Th Warden slammed his desk "open up all the cells and instruct them to attack Beowulf, if they take him down, they've earned their freedom" Beowulf ran down the halls avoiding security doors closing, suddenly all the cells around Beowulf began to open "oh boy, looks like it's a full house tonight" multiple thugs and prisoners stepped out of the cells and their gaze quickly locked on Beowulf "get 'em!" One of them shouted with the others yelling and charging. Beowulf sent out his clones to deal with them before continuing down the hallways looking for Mason and his dad, Beowulf found a slightly open utility closet and opened only to be attacked by Mason wielding a nightstick, Beowulg grabbed Mason by the arm "easy kid, I'm not the bad guy" Masom breathed heavily "Beowulf? You escaped!" Beowulf nodded "where's your dad?" Mason looked down "he got taken by The Warden and his guards, I couldn't save him" Beowulf put his hand on Mason's shoulder "you did what was right, now stay in this closet and I'll save your dad".

Beowulf continued through the prison until he made it to a hallway filled with prisoners, Cobalt's voice came over the prisoners "it's him! Get him!" A horde of them came down on Beowulf, Beowulf stepkicked one making him fly into the big group knocking a bunch of them over and disorganizing them. Beowulf jumped up and split kicked two of them that were standing next to eachother, Beowulf noticed one charging at him from behind and backflipped over him and kicking him down. Beowulf dusted off his hands, he instinctively ducked underneath a haymaker thrown by Johnny "you sure you wanna do this Johnnyboy?" Johnny growled and began swinging, Beowulf dodged them with little effort and took down Johnny with a well placed gut punch. Beowulf was suddenly caught off guard by a large person coming up from behind him and grabbing him "hey Marty, crushing that 5x5 huh? You got big huh?" Marty began squeezing but Beowulf broke his grip and springed off his chest and grabbing onto a ceiling lamp. Beowulf began swinging from lamp to lamp dodging the grasping hands of prisoners, Beowulf looked around and saw the door leading to The Warden's office "bingo" Beowulf whispered before swinging over to it. Beowulf kicked down the door to see The Warden fumbling around in his desk before pulling out a Miraculous "aha! Let's see you deal with this!" Beowulf acted quickly leaping over the desk and kicking The Warden in the chest and grabbing the Miraculous, Beowulf looked at it, it was a Torc neck ring "an actual Miraculous, looks like this guy was really close to Tremaine".

Beowulf looked at the doorway to see it filled with inmates "nowhere to run now Hero" Cobalt said "who said I wanted to run?" Beowulf questioned before unsheating his claws, Cobalt's expression quickly changed and backed up along with the others, Beowulf lept forward and abobe the crowd "made all of you flinch" Beowulf taunted before jumping down and into the hallway he came from. Beowulf made it to the utility closet to see two inmates and a guard unconcious on the ground and the cameras in the hall smashed "woah, I see you've been busy" Mason stepped out of the closet "yup, did you find my dad?" Beowulf shook his head "he might be in the Warden's office" Beowulf began to think and had an idea "we'll have to find a way to take down these guys" Beowulf snapped his fingers and handed Mason the Miraculous "Mason Dorris, this is the Miraculous of the..." Beowulf looked at the Miraculous and saw the symbol "Gorilla, you will use it for the greater good" Mason took the Miraculous and put it on causing a Kwami to appear out of it "hello, I am Taarza and I'll be your Kwami, I grant the power of strength" Mason was visibly giddy "okay, what do I say to transform?" Taarza answered "just say Taarza, Make a Beat" Mason nodded "Taarza, Make a Beat!".


	16. Confrontation

Taarza was sucked into the Miraculous and Mason transformed, his costume looked like leather, his top and bottoms were separated instead of being one single suit and was mostly black and grey, he had black fur starting from his elbow and ending at his hands, his hands were encased in metal and the fingers were segmented as if they were mechanical, his hair became shaggy and matted and dark circles formed around his eyes making them look sunken in, his mask covered his entire face and it looked like a snarling ape, Mason finished transforming "so...what should I call you?" Mason looked at him "Kong".

Beowulf and Kong confronted the convicts who had Chief Dorris captive, Cobalt sauntered out of the office with a handgun "well, well, well, isn't this a predicament? We've got leverage against all of you" Cobalt put the gun to the Chief's head "you're gonna let us go or else the Chief's brains are gonna have a meeting with the floor, railing, and probably the heads and faces of everyone in this room" Kong almost rushed in but Beowulf stopped him and made a head gesture, Kong looked and saw one of Beowulf's clones climbing on the ceiling. Cobalt pulled back the hammer of the gun "make your decision now heroes" Beowulf smirked beneath his mask "how about a third option? We beat the crap out of everyone of you and put you back in your cells" Cobalt laughed "wrong choice" suddenly the clone swung down and kicked the gun out of Cobalt's hand. Kong saw his chance and pointed his fist at Cobalt "Rocket Punch!" His metal gauntlet detached and rocketed forward hitting Cobalt in the face and making him do a complete flip in the air before falling onto his face. Beowulf looked at Kongo "that is so cool" Kong's fist came back and reattached itself.

The Prisoners charged at the heroes, Kong charged aswell and began throwing haymakers that launched groups of prisoners into the air with each swing. Beowulf joined Kong and began taking down prisoners, one by one the prisoners were subdued, one of the inmates guarding the Chief became distracted and Chief Dorris took advantage of this and shoulder checked him off the railing. Chief Dorris jumoed over his handcuffs and grabbed the gun Cobalt had, Beowulf knocked out two prisoners and looked up to see Cobalt gaining conciousness, Beowulf jumped up and grabbed Cobalt "I never did get that interrogation" Beowulf threw Cobalt into The Warden's office "okay Cobalt, riddle me this, how can I make a dent in Tremaine's business?" Cobalt felt his head and laughed "you already hurt his business, that's why he employed the Miraculous" Beowulf grabbed Cobalt by the collar "how can I hurt him more?" Cobalt then whispered "piss off pixie" Beowulf slammed him against the wall "why are you defending him?" Cobalt was about to respond until the wall behind him began to crumble "what the-" Beowulf uttered before a black hand broke through the wall and grabbed Cobalt and pulling hi. through. Beowulf backed up and joined the Dorris family, Kongo had finished the prisoners and looked around "there, trash has been taken out".

Suddenly the floor underneath Marty, Johnny, and Skiz gave way and they were pulled under. Beowulf walked over to Kong "good work, but I don't think this is over" Chief Dorris walked over to Beowulf "I heard your conversation with Cobalt, it looks like you're also trying to bust Tremaine on something" Beowulf looked at Dorris "wait, you know?" Chief Dorris scratched his head "we've been trying to bust him for years but he's pretty squeaky clean about his...other business, if you can expose him we can move in and take him down" Beowulf thought about it "I'm gonna need some help, Kong you're with me" Kong objected "I have to make sure my da- I mean the Chief gets home safe" Chief Dorris put his hand on Kong's shoulder "I'l be fine, Beowulf is gonna need your help" Kongo nodded in determination "Kong, get to Tremaine Tower, I need to recruit some other people" Beowulf made his way to Sophia's apartment.

Beowulf knocked on Sophia's window, Sophia walked over and opened it "no time to explain, we're making our move on Pangolin at Tremaine Tower...huh, I guess we did have time to explain" Beowulf handed Sophia her Miraculous and she put it in causing Byyte to appear "it's good to see you Ms. Sophia" Sophia smiles "it's good to see you too, now let's get cracking Byyte, Fangs Out!" Sophia transformed and jumped out of her window kicking out a strand and rode it. Beowulf de-transformed and took a deep breath "okay...we're really gonna do this, just one last person I need help from, Sturnn, Let's Hunt!" Ben transformed and swung over to Arnold's house. Beowulf knocked on Arnold's window "hey Arnold, gonna need your help again" Arnold lit up "anything Beowulf, what do you need?" Beowulf smirked "your mad hacking skills".

_Meanwhile where Cobalt and the others were taken_

Cobalt looked around to see the other criminals with him, someone came out of the darkness "what are you doing here?" Cobalt asked with the person responding "I'm here to recruit you, we're gonna take over Tremaine's business" Cobalt crossed his arms "what's innit for me?" The person responded "25% of the profits, Tengu is already onboard" Cobalt thought for a minute "allright, I'm in" The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a Pseudo-Miraculous.

_Back with Beowulf and the others_

Beowulf stood alongside Kong and Arachna "here we go" Beowulf stated "Kongo, you cause a distraction at the front desk, Arachna and I will make our way to the top and ambush Tremaine" Kong nodded jumping down to take his position "Arachna, once we get Tremaine to transform you'll use your powers to immobilize him" Arachna nodded and followed Beowulf to the top of the building. Beowulf looked down and gave a thumbs up to Kong, Kong aimed at the front door making sure no civilian was in the way and blasted the door with a rocket punch "that definitely caused some ruckus". Tremaine felt the rumble of Kong's attacks "what...is going on Jeffords?" Jeffords pulled up the security cam footage "it seems that a Miraculous Wielder is attacking us" Tremaine felt his head "get the word out, we need some back up" Jeffords began typing "oh dear, sir, it appears something is crashing our entire network" Tremaine looked at Jeffords "what?" Beowulf suddenly broke through the window followed by Arachna. Tremaine sighed "great, looks like I've gotta get the job done myself, Shell, Armor Up!" Tremaine transformed and charged at Beowulf and Arachna.

Beowulf jumped over Pangolin and flicked his flail around Pangolin's head and pulled him causing him to get reined back. Arachna went infront of Pangolin and stabbed his underbelly with one of her legs and began injecting poison, Pangolin quickly grabbed Arachna and threw her into a wall, Pangolin then grabbed the chain and yanked Beowulf before clotheslining him. Beowulf hit the ground but he counter attacked by kicking Pangolin in the side but that only hurt himself, Pangolin laughed and punched Beowulf through the floor making him fall to the floor below. Pangolin looked into the hole and sighed "Jeffords, evacuate the building" Jeffords nodded and went into the secret door, Arachna came from behind and kicked Pangolin into the hole. Pangolin dropped onto the floor below and Beowulf was waiting "man Pangy, what do you eat to get that hefty?" Beowulf jumped forward and kicked Pangolin across the jaw sending Pangolin reeling. Pangolin attempted to retaliate but was met by a swinging dropkick from Arachna, Arachna swung forward and hit Pangolin on top of the head with both her fists. Arachna arranged her spider legs to form a springboard behind her and Beowulf jumped off of it reeling back and punching Pangolin through the window, Beowulf quickly grabbed the edge of the building and threw out his flail wrapping it around Pangolin's waist, Beowulf used all of his strength and swung Pangolin through a pillar and into a lower floor.

Pangolin recovered just as the heroes came down to confront him, Beowulf jumped at him only to be grabbed and slammed, Arachna tried to assist but was also grabbed and slammed right into Beowulf, Pangolin became confused as only Arachna was there, Pangolin whirled around frantically but couldn't find Beowulf, Beowulf came down from above and latched onto Pangolin's back and wrapped his chain flail around his neck and began choking him, Arachna shot up and stabbed Pangolin in the side, Pangolin howled in pain and backhanded Arachna through multiple cubicles. Pangolin reached up and grabbed Beowulf throwing him through a window, Beowulf quickly latched onto a nearby flagpole and swung back into the building, Pangolin dusted off his shoulder "you kids are costing me a pretty penny in property damage" Beowulf retorted "yeah sorry, but stopping a supervillain does require a bit of rabble rousing" Pangolin spat on the floor "okay, while we're here, let's talk compensation, I'm thinking your heads mounted on my wall will pay for the damages" orange crystals began to form on Pangolin's arms "I think I'll use these to get the job done".

Beowulf and Arachna regrouped, Pangolin lifted his fist and punched the ground causing orange crystals to erupt from the ground, Beowulf and Arachna jumped out of the way inadvertedly separating themselves. Pangolin rushed to Arachna and punched her into the crystals, Arachna bounced off into Pangolin's hand which grabbed her face and smashed her into the crystals causing it to break, Pangolin lifted Arachna "time to squish this spider" Pangolin was about to finish her but Beowulf jumped in and dropkicked Pangolin making him release Arachna. Beowulf rushed forward punching Pangolin multiple times in the midsection, Arachna recovered and joined Beowulf striking Pangolin multiple times. Beowulf and Arachna jumped back and Beowulf instructed Arachna "launch me!" Arachna looked at him and nodded "got it!" Arachna made her legs a springboard and launched Beowulf, Beowulf put both his legs forward and smashed into Pangolin causing the floor beneath them to give way and fall. Arachna stuck to the ceiling with her legs and looked around, the dust from the collapse made it difficult to see "Beowulf! Are you okay?" The dust cleared and Arachna could see Pangolin holding Beowulf by the throat, Pangolin dropped Beowulf and punched him through the window. Arachna lept down and attacked Pangolin with her legs making sure she was out of his range, Pangolin swatted away the spider legs and managed to grab one and fling her away, Arachna caught herself on a wall and jumped toward Pangolin kicking him across the jaw, Pangolin quickly recovered and punched Aracha through a row of cubicles.

Beowulf grabbed onto the side of the building, as he was climbing up his hand was grabbed and nearly crushed by Pangolin, Pangolin lifted him up and slammed him on the ceiling and floor before tossing him off the building, Beowulf flicked his chain and caught Pangolin's neck tugging him down with him, Beowulf caught a ledge and caught Pangolin and making him dangle, Beowulf yanked the chain sending Pangolin upward, Beowulf then jumoed down and kicked Pangolin in the chin and letting him plummet to the ground. Pangolin's impact created a crater which he sat in for a solid 10 seconds before climbing out, Pangolin dusted himself off but was bindsided by a solid left hook by Kong "oh boy, I've been looking forward to this..." Kongo charged at Pangolin and barraged him with punches, Pangolin took the blows and grabbed Kong by the arm and lifted him over his head and slammed him into a car, Pangolin lifted Kong back up and threw him into the front desk of the building. Beowulf jumped down and got inbetween Pangolin and Kong "you okay Jungle Boy?" Kong rubbed his head "I'm good, just gotta shake off this concussion". Pangolin's crystals began to grow and spread across his body, a large crystal formed on his back and caused him to bend down onto all fours, energy began to gather in the crystals on his shoulders and into the larfer back crystal. Suddenly a laser erupted from the large crystal.

Beowulf barely avoided the laser as it tore through the concrete and into the building, Pangolin stopped the laser and the crystals shrunk back into his body. Beowulf breathed heavily, Pangolin was just getting started, Beowulf rushed Pangolin barely avoiding a punch, Beowulf grabbed Pangolin's arm and lifted him up, with all his strength Beowulf flipped and threw Pangolin through the building across the street. Beowulf jumped across the street and looked into the building, Pangolin grabbed Beowulf by the neck and ran back across the street and threw Beowulf into the recovering Kong, Pangolin ran into the building and raised his arms to smash the two heroes, Pangolin suddenly stopped involuntarily. Beowulf looked behind Pangolin to see Arachna holding one of her strands struggling to hold Pangolin in place, Kong and Beowulf recovered "we did it, now let's finish this" Beowulf stated before confronting Pangolin. Beowulf rubbed his wrist "Wolfsbane!" Beowulf yelled.

Beowulf reeled back and the wolf was about to form but Pangolin suddenly reached out and grabbed Beowulf by the head, Arachna tried to rein him in but Pangolin yanked her and grabbed her with his other hand, he then slammed Beowulf and Arachna's heads together and threw them aside, Kong rushed over locking grips with Pangolin. Kong and Pangolin struggled to gain ground on the other, Pangolin suddenly grew crystals increasing his density and making it more difficult for Kong, Kong suddenly roared "King of the Jungle!" Kong's strength suddenly increased and he began pushing Pangolin back and down, Kong let go of one of Pangolin's hands and punched him square in the face, Kong grabbed Pangolin's forearm and began hitting Pangolin in the face with his own crystal covered arm, Pangolin broke free and punched Kong, Kong was barely effected by the punch and locked grips with Pangolin again "you kids really don't know how ta quit" Kong shook his head "well then, guess I gotta do more heavy lifting to keep up" Pangolin suddenly lifted Kong into the air and smashed him into the roof and then onto the floor and then into the roof again and then back onto the floor. Pangolin kept doing this until Kong's grip loosened, Pangolin broke free of his grip and took both of his fists and slammed them onto Kong.

Pangolin cracked his knuckles and adjusted his neck, Arachna came up from behind and stabbed into him with her spider legs, Pangolin immediately grabbed her and lifted her over his head. Pangolin then slammed her on his knee back first, Arachna let out a cry and then went limp, Pangolin then tossed her to the side. Beowulf saw this and his heart sank "NO!!" He screamed with Pangolin taunting him "aww, sorry Wolfy, good try though" Beowulf eyes began to glow red again and he suddenly crouched down onto all fours and in a flash of movement the ground cracked beneath him and he jumped forward putting his two fists into Pangolin's chest knocking him back into an elevator door "oooh, looks like you got some fight left in you" Pangolin rushed Beowulf grabbing him by the shoulders and throwing him through the ceiling, Pangolin jumped up to the next floor and got blindsided by a punch to the eye from Beowulf, Pangolin flinched back and Beowulf lept onto his face and grabbed onto Pangolin's upper and lower jaw and began prying.

Pangolin's mouth began to slowly open but Pangolin quickly grabbed Beowulf and threw him away, Beowulf recovered and attacked Pangolin throwing wide haymakers that disoriented Pangolin. Pangolin threw a punch but Beowulf dodged it and cracked Pangolin with an uppercut, Beowulf jumped onto Pangolin again and began pulling his jaw apart, Beowulf fully pried Pangolin's mouth open and lifted his fist, Beowulf came down with all his strength and punched Pangolin straight in the back of the throat! Pangolin and Beowulf fell through the floor, Pangolin struggled to catch his breath, that punch knocked the wind out of him "okay, unexpected development, but now I think this meeting should be over". Pangolin turned around to see Beowulf finally coming down from his rage state.

Pangolin's crystals grew in size "this stops now" Pangolin then curled up and began to spin in place like a tire conducting energy eventually becoming coated in orange energy, Pangolin rocketed toward Beowulf the sheer energy ripped up the ground. Beowulf lifted his arms and tried to stop Pangolin but it was no use, Pangolin ploughed through Beowulf with little effort and knocked the hero into a parked car causing it to explode, Beowulf was launched up by the explosion and fell to the ground hard quickly losing conciousness with the laughter of Pangolin echoing in his head. Ben opened his eyes to see that he was in a bakery, he looked around and saw someone taking something out of the oven "oh...you're awake!" The woman said without even looking at him "where am I?" Ben asked, the woman came up, she had a tray of macaroons, she was beautiful, her hair was shiny and blue and her smile was warm and made Ben feel like he was at home, the woman walked over to Ben and set down the tray "try one" she instructed, Ben picked up a red one and ate it. Ben began to tear up "what is it?" she asked "this tastes just like what I had for my 8th birthday, my parents took me to this ice cream place in our hometown, I had a Strawberry Blitz, it was the best thing I had ever eaten" The woman laughed "I'm glad to hear it" Ben tried the blue one and it tasted like the blueberry muffin he ate when he was 6 "how did you get these flavors into these?" The woman laughed "the truth is...I made these with you in mind, to remind you of what you fight for" Ben looked up at her then behind him to see his friends and family sitting outside "I did this for all of you, because you all need to keep fighting, I know your enemy is strong but you can't give up...please".

_Meanwhile in the real world_

Pangolin walked over to Beowulf and put his foot on his head "this is gonna be a satisfying crunch" a woman from the crowd shouted "Beowulf! Please get up!" The crowd around them started chanting "c'mon Beowulf! Get that creep!" One man shouted, Pangolin scoffed "they really do love you, which is gonna make this part so much fun".

_Back in The Bakery_

Ben got up from the seat "I need to keep fighting, for the city, for my friends, for my family" The Woman clapped "well done Benjamin!" Ben could hear the people chanting for him "they're calling you, answer the call" Ben nodded and looked at his wrist, the Miraculous was active, Ben got out from the booth and walked infront of the door "you have the makings of a true hero Benjamin Williams" Ben looked back at her "I have people that help me" Ben opened the door to see a blinding light "who are you?" Ben asked turning around to see the woman was gone, leaving only two red hair ties where she was standing, Ben looked around but quickly looked back into the light, unwavering, he stepped into it.


	17. Unwavering Power

Beowulf opened his eyes to see Pangolin about to bring his foot down and end his life, Pangolin brought his foot down expecting to hear a satisfying crunch sound, Pangolin looked down to see his foot had stopped halfway and Beowulf's hand had stopped it "what the-" Pangolin uttered before Beowulf began pushing against him slowly lifting him. Pangolin tried to push against him but he wasn't gaining any ground, suddenly Kong and Arachna lept onto Pangolin and began pulling him off of Beowulf, Beowulf got to his feet and looked Pangolin in the eye "Wolfsbane" Beowulf said in a deadpan inflection, the wolf appeared on his arm and he reeled back his fist and punched Pangolin in the stomach.

Beowulf began pulling as did Kong and Arachna, Beowulf put his hand on Pangolin's chin and pulled the wolf head out along with a small orange orb. Pangolin broke free of their grip and grabbed the two, Pangolin slammed Kong into the ground and held Arachna at arms length. Kong roared and punched Pangolin in the face, Arachna took advantage of Pangolin's head placement and kicked him in the jaw, Kong broke free and tackled Pangolin back into Tremaine Tower. Pangolin increased his weight with the crystals and stopped Kong in his tracks only to take an uppercut from Kong, Kong punched Pangolin in the midsection then hit him with a left cross across the cheek, Kong threw another punch but Pangolin caught it and struck Kong on the head with his elbow causing the young hero to stumble. Pangolin grabbed Kong by the shoulders and threw him through the ceiling, Arachna springed off her spider legs and put both her feet into Pangolin's stomach. Beowulf looked at the orb "this is it" he whispered "Devour the Power!" Beowulf shouted before absorbing Pangolin's powers, his costume became orange and white and orange crystals portruded out of his back and on his shoulders and arms.

Pangolin threw Arachna aside and was suddenly hit by a shoulder check from Beowulf that sent him sprawling, Beowulf stood there, reinvigorated and ready for another round, Pangolin stumbled to his feet while Beowulf twirled his flail "I just had an idea that is either gonna be genius...or backfire horribly" Pangolin breathed on heavily while Beowulf grabbed the flail's handle with the wolf hand and encased the flail in crystals, Beowulf lifted the large crystalized weapon and slammed it on yhe ground causing it to break, revealing Beowulf's flail to now be a giant mace made out of crystal. Beowulf put the large weapon on his shoulder and put his hand forward and flexed his fingers back taunting Pangolin, Pangolin fell for the taunt and charged with a fist infused with energy, Beowulf quickly moves the mace and blocked the attack sapping the energy from Pangolin's fist, Beowulf reeled the weapon back slightly and struck Pangolin with it discharging the stored up energy and sending Pangolin flying into the elevator crushing it. Pangolin bursted out of wreckage fuming with anger, Pangolin got on all fours and began charging, Pangolin fired the laser, Beowulf was ready however and put the mace forward sucking up all the energy. Pangolin stopped and was stunned by this development, he began to back away but reassured himself "I'm not gonna lose, not now, I've come too far!" Pangolin curled up and began revving, Pangolin blasted ripping the ground apart as he barreled toward Beowulf. Beowulf reeled his mace back and swung upward with all his might matching Pangolin's power, Pangolin's momentum began to waver as Beowulf pushed against him slowly gaining ground. Beowulf made one final push and caught Pangolin from underneath and with one big swing he discharged the energy and launched Pangolin straight up through the building.

Beowulf jumped onto the mace and discharged energy rocketing him up through the same hole Pangolin made, Beowulf quickly caught up with Pangolin who had gotten through the roof of the tower, Beowulf raised the mace up and roared "RHAAAAGH!" And slammed the weapon down onto Pangolin sending him straight down through the tower. Beowulf's mace dissipated and reformed back into the mace, Beowulf dove into the hole "c'mon, just have to do one more and then we can rest" Beowulf put both of his fists forward "Wolfsbane!" his Miraculous began to glow and his body was becoming enveloped in blue aura, suddenly Beowulf was encased in a Giant Wolf Head. Pangolin lied in a crater staring at the giant wolf that was coming for him, he raised his arm but couldn't do anything as his impending defeat lay before him. Beowulf's focus was right on Pangolin, it all ends here, when Beowulf made his impact he couldn't even hear it, but everyone else could. Aracha and Kong retreated before the impact and managed ti get civilians out of the way, the sheer force of it blew out the windows of the entire Tower and the surrounding buildings, people got to cover and the cars near the building tipped over and flipped.

Beowulf stood above Pangolin, they had broken through the floor and into the maintenence tunnels below the building, Pangolin was groaning in pain and was barely concious, Beowulf walked over to his hand and lifted it prying open the plates to reveal the Miracuolous. Beowulf grabbed onto the Miraculous "you don't deserve this, you never deserved this" Beowulf began to pulland it slowly came off causing Pangolin to revert back to Tremaine, Beowulf stood above Tremaine "it's over, I beat you" Tremaine spat out some blood and struggled to speak "congrats kid...you win" Beowulf and Tremaine suddenly heard footsteps and the sound of slow clapping hands, Beowulf and Tremaine looked in the direction of the noise and from the darkness energed Timothy.

Tremaine smirked "Timothy, you got here just in time" Timothy fixed his hair "looks like I got here a bit late actually" Tremaine strained himself to move "no time for that, use your Miraculous and help me" Timothy put his hand on his chin "that's a good idea actually, I think I will use my Miraculous...but first I have an announcement" Timothy snapped his fingers and Skiz, Johnny, Marty and Cobalt all revealed themselves and surrounded the two adversaries "I'd like you to get reacquainted with my crew" Tremaine spat out more blood "what is this Timothy? And how'd these guys get out?" Timothy responded "I broke them out, because I see value in them, and due to my kindness I've won their loyalty, which brings me to my announcement, I hereby take control of all Tremaine business activities and declare myself CEO". Tremaine tried to get up but he was too weak "Timothy...what are you doing?" Tremaine asked with Beowulf chipping in "look...Timothy was it? You don't have to-" Timothy cut Beowulf off "Don't call me Timothy! It's Grayson!" Grayson composed himself "as you can see I've procured my employee's former powers" Beowulf looked at all of them to see that they were all wearing Pseudos, the Pseudos he took from them.

Beowulf looked at Grayson "where did you get those?" Timothy shrugged "shook down a couple jewelry stores, turns out they'll rat eachother out if you shake em hard enough, they told me who had them" the blood in Beowulf's body felt as if it had dropped "we didn't kill the guy, he said Beowulf sold him the Miraculous, we did hurt him though" Beowulf clenched his fist but didn't do anything, he was outgunned and much to weakened to fight all of them. Grayson's crew suddenly transformed with a couple of them beginning to snicker, Grayson walked forward and reached into his pocket "time to establish my takeover" Grayson pulled out a silver ring from his pocket. Grayson slid the ring onto his right ring finger and a Kwami popped out, it was black and cat-like with green eyes "Grayson! Please don't do this!" Grayson barked back at the Kwami "shut it Plagg! Now do as I say!" Plagg lowered his ears and nodded "Plagg, Claws Out!" Plagg was sucked into the Miraculous

Grayson's costume was completely black except his eyes which were now green, his costume was made out of leather much like Kong's, he had an armored chest and clawed gauntlets, he had shin guards and boots and his head was covered by a tattered hood and cape making a fairly worn cowl. "call me Cat Noir in this form, as my first act as CEO I think I'd like to do some remodeling, Beowulf come with me please, men, watch my father for me" Cat Noir jumped out of the hole followed by Beowulf. Cat Noir walked around the destroyed lobby "you guys really did a number on this place" Beowulf wasted no time "what's your angle here Cat?" Cat Noir looked at Beowulf "straight to the point, well I plan on taking back control of my life, not let my father decide what I wanna do with my life, I'm gonna take his business to places he had no idea about and I'd like your help, join my crew" Beowulf responded "no, you don't wanna follow in your father's footsteps" Cat Noir snapped at Beowulf "I'm nothing like mt father! I'm gonna be better, I'll take over this city in a quarter of the time it took my dad!" Beowulf clenched his fist "I can't let you do that" Cat Noir looked straight into Beowulf's eyes "don't try to stop me" Cat Noir lifted his right hand "Cataclysm!" black energy formed on Cat Noir's hand "I think I'll start by downsizing this particular building, there's no need for it anymore" Cat Noir then touched a pillar and the entire building quickly began to crumble and come undone. Cat Noir jumped down the hole "sayonara Beowulf, I'll see you again" Beowulf quickly ran out of the building, the police managed to get the civilians back, Beowulf looked back at the crumbling building being joined by Kong and Arachna.

Beowulf turned to the two "okay, both of you go home, I'll come by and get your Miraculous from you later tonight" Arachna responded "I don't have time for that, I need to get somewhere fast" Kong nodded in agreement, Beowulf sighed "fine, go into those alleys and I'll get them from you". The two heroes did so, Beowulf went to Kong first, Kong took off his Torc and gave it to Beowulf "it was an honor to do this for you Beowulf" Beowulf took the Miraculous and nodded "you did great today, I'm proud of you" Mason's face lit up "thank you so much for this...I'm not gonna lie to you, I was really scared fighting that guy, he was just so strong" Beowulf put his hand on his shoulder "it's fine to be scared, I'm scared everytime I fight a baddie" Mason looked up at Beowulf "but you act so...natural" Beowulf responded "that's how I deal with the fear, if you allow your enemies to see your fear, you've already lost" Mason nodded and ran off to where he needed to be.

Beowulf ran over to the other alley where Arachna gave him her Miraculous "it never gets easier, does it?" Beowulf shook his head "that's why we need to keep fighting, to stay better than the bad guys" Sophia nodded "I-I'm sorry for hesitating on paralyzing Pangolin" Beowulf responded "It's hard to stop hesitation, but you CAN do it" Sophia sighed "yeah, no more hesitation" Sophia walked off and Beowulf looked back at the crumbling building, it was finally coming down, the fight was far from over. Beowulf walked into a nearby building "Arnold?" Beowulf called out with Arnold popping out "I am here" Beowulf walked over to him "good job live streaming the security cam footage of the building, now everyone knows Tremaine's secret" Arnold nodded "indeed, I am needed elsewhere" Beowulf nodded "Beowulf...do you ever feel like you do not belong?: Beowulf looked at Arnold "yeah...when I came here I didn't fit in anywhere, but I found people who weren't like me, but liked me anyway, so I feel like I don't need to belong, I just need the people who care". Arnold nodded and folded his laptop and ran out of the building.

Ben ran to an antique store "Donovan?" Ben called out with Donovan emerging from a doorway with a slight limp "I'm here and I'm fine, don't worry" Ben ran over to him and helped him into a chair "looks like Timothy decided to take matters into his own hands" Ben nodded and sat down "he had a real Miraculous" Donovan looked at him "which one was it?" Ben looked at him "The Black Cat Miraculous" Donovan nearly fell out of his chair "no...that can't be" Donovan whispered with Ben looking at him confused "how did Tremaine get his hands on it?" Donovan limped over to a box set on the counter and opened it "I haven't been entirely truthful to you Ben, even I have secrets" Donovan took out a photo "I don't know why I hid this from you, looks like my own childish perception of secrecy is still there...I used to be Cat Noir" Ben felt as if his world was turned upside down "wait...I thought Cat Noir died" Donovan responded "he did, but not in the way you think, the truth is, the original Steer was the one who died in that explosion, I rushed in and got him killed, after that I threw my ring into a canal hoping to never see it again, looks like karma really does get you in th end" Ben got up "so you've been living the life of another person? Is Donovan even your real name?" Donovan shook his head "no, actually, it's Adrien" Ben looked at him "the model who..

went missing shortly after Cat Noir died, it all makes sense now". Adrien nodded his head as the two stood there in silence "so what happens now?" Ben asked with Adrien answering "the fight pushes on so we have to endure".

Ben walked home with his head spinning in circles, today had thrown him for a loop, but he was glad to be home. Ben opened the door only to be blindsided by confetti and balloons, Ben batted at the debris and was disoriented by his friends and family yelling "SURPRISE!" As he walked through the door "wha-wha-wha" Ben uttered as he looked at the streamers and the balloon sign that read "happy birthday" Ben breathed heavily as Mason laughed "we got you good didn't we?" Ben responded "the hell is going on?" His mother answered "don't you know? It's your birthday!" Ben scratched his head "I totally forgot it was my birthday, guess I've been busy all day" Arnold walked over and gave Ben a party hat "I believe it is custom to wear this" Ben put it on and his dad announced "now let's cut that cake!"

Ben sat by the window looking out at the cloudy sky, he then stared at the half eaten piece of cake infront of him and sighed "why the long face?" Ben looked up to see Sophia "oh...i-it's nothing" Sophia sat beside him "c'mon, you can tell me" Ben sighed "have you ever felt like...the whole world is resting on your shoulders and if you stop supporting it the world as we know it will crumble?" Sophia thought about it "well I am the captain of the volleyball team so yeah, atleast kinda, as the ace the team kinda revolves around me so if I'm not on my game then my whole team suffers" Ben looked her right in the eyes "what happens when the weight is too much?" Sophia answered "then you get stronger by lifting it, doing the right thing isn't something you hesitate on, someone taught me a very similar lesson" Ben then asked "about hesitation?" Sophia nodded "I'm taking what they said to heart, which is why in my eyes, this is the right thing to do" she leaned forward and kissed Ben much to his surprise, Ben slowly closed his eyes as the first snowflakes descended from the sky and onto the window, Winter has begun.

_Phew! And so ends Tales of the Mraculous Part. 1, don't worry I'll get right to work on the next part of Ben's journey, the next part will have a slight tone shift, I want to explore darker themes in the future and I think now is the time for it, so stay tuned for the next part of Beowulf's struggle to keep New York safe!_


	18. Connections

Ben stood at the front of the school, the chilly winter air and snow nipped at him and his breath was visible, his winter coat restricted his movement slightly but it didn't bother him too much. Ben was about to take a step when his arm was suddenly tugged by someone behind him and then forward, it was Sophia and she tugged him to the courtyard and brought him in for a kiss, Ben accepted the warm greeting and embraced her, Ben obviously had to be on the tips of his toes to reach her but he didn't mind. A number of students witnessed this and began to gossip, Ben could make out their words "is that Sophia with Ben?" One student questioned with another answering "didn't you hear? They're a couple?" A shrill voice came from the crowd "Oh no they're not!" Ben looked in that direction to see a short blonde girl standing there "hey Sally, long time no see" Sally snapped at Ben "can it dweeb!" Ben and Sophia made their way to the lockers with Sally pleading with Sophia "Sophie, you can't do this, you're causing mayhem in the school system!" Ben and Sophia continued to ignore Sally while holding hands which made Sally more irritated.

Sally continued "do you have to hold his hand?" Sophia finally spoke up "Sally stop, can't you see I'm finally happy? I have a boyfriend, my sister is coming into town, everything is looking up for me so can you please be happy for me?" Sally lowered her head "you never call me Sally, you always call me Sal" Sophia sighed and hugged Sally "okay Sophie, I'll try to be happy for you, even if you're locking lips with a geek" Ben gave the middle finger to Sally while Sophia's back was turned and Sally stuck her tongue out at Ben. Ben was suddenly put into a headlock by Mason "hey man, looks like things are looking up for you huh?" Ben acted coy "I have no idea what you mean" Mason scoffed "you know what I mean, you're dating the most popular girl in school, there's no way you aren't proud of that" Ben chuckled "okay...I'm a little proud" Mason got hyped and gave Ben a crispy high five. Arnold joined the two "it seems we are all doing very well are we not?" Ben nodded "hey...what happened to Timothy?" Arnold shrugged as did Mason "no one's seen him since the collapse of Tremaine Tower" Ben remembered that night when he took down Tremaine, and subsequently Timothy's takeover, he couldn't do anything so he had no choice but to wait for his next move.

Ben sat down in class and Mrs. Moirah made an announcement "after the disappearance of his father, Timothy Grayson has taken a leave of absence from school, we do not, however, plan to leave him out of the loop so I am assigning someone to tutor him while he has taken this leave of school" Ben rolled his eyes at the statement but didn't say anything. Ben was suddenly struck with an idea and raised his idea "Mr. Williams, do you volunteer?" Ben nodded "yes I do" Mrs. Moirah thought about it "I'm not sure that's a good idea, you and Mr. Grayson have been at odds" Ben responded "this is a perfect opportunity for us to bond, find some common ground" Mrs. Moirah nodded "I see...very well then, his personal chauffeur will come pick you up everyday afterschool and you'll earn extra credit for every visit" Ben nodded "thank you, Mrs. Moirah".

The bell rang through the halls and Ben and Sophia arrived at the gymnasium "are you sure this is a good idea Benji?" Sophia asked "don't worry about me, I'm sure it'll be fine" Sophia responded "I just don't want you to get in any trouble" Ben put his hands on her cheeks "I'll be fine, now get to practice" Ben did a slight hop and kissed hrr forehead before waving goodbye and walking to the entrance of the school where a black limousine was waiting. The window rolled down and Ben recognized Jeffords "Benjamin, I presume" Ben looked around "that would be me" Jeffords motioned to the back of the limousine and Ben opened the door and got in. The tension during the drive was palpable, being in the car of an enemy to tutor said enemy was fairly strange for Ben, Jeffords called from the front of the limousine "do you require anything Benjamin?" Ben shook his head "no thank you, I'm fine, and it's okay to call me Ben" Jeffords responded "very well Benjamin". The car finally stopped and someone opened the door, Ben stepped out to see a massive mansion made of red and white stone, Ben was led inside where he was blindsided by a giant chandelier and marble pillars "woah, this place is huge" Jeffords kept typing on his device "Master Grayson is in his study, I will escort you there".

Ben and Jeffords walked through the main hall and up the large staircase until they made it to a large door and Jeffords "Master Grayson" Timothy's voice came from the otherside "come in" Jeffords opened the door and Ben walked in to see Timothy playing foosball alone. Timothy looked at Ben and stopped "they sent you?! I'm totally getting Mrs. Moirah fired" Jeffords cleared his throat "Benjamin is here to assist you in your studies" Timothy scoffed and kept playing "Master Timothy, I suggest you cooperate, with your father gone there is no guarentee that you will remain enrolled in Greenville Academy" Timothy stopped playing and rolled his eyes "fine, leave us Jeffords" Jeffords bowed and exited the room leaving the two boys standing parallel to eachother. Timothy walked over to a computer desk with a stack of dusty textbooks on it, he then knocked the stack onto the floor and sat down turning on the computer and began playing music. Ben walked over and picked up one of the textbooks "so...which subject would you prefer first?" Timothy answered "I would PREFER not to study at all" Ben sighed "look, I don't wanna be here, you don't want me to be here...but I know you don't wanna get kicked out and I want that extra credit sooooo can you atleast try?" Timothy sighed "fine, since my dad is missing in action I don't have any leverage to stay in".

Ben and Timothy sat in beanbags with their texrbooks open, Timotht scratched his head "okay, so, there are two main types of energy, Kinetic and Potential" Ben nodded his head "correct" Timothy then said "Kinetic is motion, and potential is one that's stored, right?" Ben nodded again and waved his arm "this right here is Kinetic energy, meanwhile" Ben grabbed an apple from the table and bit it "that was chemical energy, the energy stored in food, and this..." Ben dropped the apple but caught it before it hit the ground "gravitiational, another form of potential" Timothy nodded and pulled out a lighter and lit it "and this is thermal..." Ben nodded "yup, and now that we've covered the basics on energy, time for some practical use...you've got a kitchen right?".

Ben and Timothy stood in the kitchen, Ben was shocked at how spacious it was "what are we doing in here?" Ben was reminded and pulled out a stick with some material at the end of it "put on your goggles" Timothy did so as did Ben, Ben turned on a burner and put the stick in and it caught fire, the fire was white "woah" Timothy exclaimed "yup, magnesium burns this color due to its chemical makeup". Ben put out the fire and cleaned up "okay...what's next?" Timothy asked with Ben shrugging "we're done for the day" Timothy scratched his head "really? That went by fast" Ben packed his things "you're smart Grayson, you just never needed to apply yourself". Timothy responded "I guess" Jeffords came in and began escorting Ben through the mansion and to the front door "Benjamin, on behalf of the Grayson family I thank you for your assistance with Master Timothy and I look forward to seeing you again" Ben nodded "thanks Jeffords, I can't wait either...do you hear that?" Jeffords listened closely and said "yes, it sounds like, electricity" Ben pushed Jeffords out of the way and dove the opposite way just as the doors blew open to reveal Shellshock standing there.

Shellshock sauntered in "where are you ya little pissant?" Ben maneuvered to behind a piece of furniture and peered over to see Timothy looking around the corner, Ben waved and got his attention and signaled him to retreat to the study "I know you're here! Your dad wants me to look after you or more specifically, what's left of you when I FRY YOU!" Ben grabbed a piece of debris and threw it into an open door catching Shellshock's attention "you can't hide from me!" Ben looked at his Miraculous but was stopped by Prowwl "don't, this place has cameras all over, we'll have to find another way" Ben nodded and made his way to the study where he found Timothy rooting around in an old wooden box "that was Shellshock, why is he here?" Timothy answered "to evaporate me, you already know who my dad is right?" Ben nodded "they say he's the Pangolin" Timothy nodded "yup, I kinda overthrew him and now he's sent one of his cronies to take me out, but I'm not going down without a fight" Timothy pulled out a silver ring and put it on "I don't have much experience with this Miraculous so I'm gonna need your help...this Miraculous was my mom's" Timothy pulled out a Panjas Bracelet and tossed it to Ben "I better get that back" Ben nodded his head and put it on.

A Kwami suddenly bursted out of the Miraculous "incredible" Ben whispered with the Kwami turning its attention to Ben "oh hello, my name is Roaar and I'll be your Kwami, I grant the power of Tiger's Eye, it lets you see through and solid object...also you can turn invisible" Ben nodded "cool beans, now what's the activation?" Roaar responded "just say Roaar, Stripes On" Timothy transformed first "Plagg, Claws Out!" Ben followed shortly after "Roaar, Stripes On!" Ben's costume was shades of magenta and dark pink with black tiger stripes on his arms and back, his hair was dark pink at the tips and became progressively darker until it was dark magenta his eyemask was hot pink and his eyes were yellow, he also noticed his canines had been sharpened. Ben looked at himself "nice, I guess I'll call myself Beltiger" Timothy nodded "I was thinking of changing my name, don't like Cat Noir that much" Beltiger began to think "how 'bout...Panther" Panther looked at Beltiger "I like that".


	19. Winter War

Beltiger peered out into the hallway to see nothing on either side "coast is clear" Beltiger whispered with Panther following close behind, Beltiger suddenly heard the sound of electricity crackling and dove knocking both him and Panther to the ground just before the wall to their left exploded, Shellshock stepped out "well, well, well, looks like I found ya, and your little friend too" Shellshock generated a ball of electricity in his hands, Beltiger steped forward and cupped his hands to his side and formed a ball of magenta-colored fire letting it increase in size. Shellshock launched his ball as did Beltiger making them collide and explode pushing everyone back, Beltiger recovered and rushed Shellshock while he was disoriented. Beltiger jumped and raised his fist bringing it down hard on the back of Shellshock's head causing his head to hit the ground and crack it, Shellshock stumbled to his feet with Beltiger bouncing on the balls of his feet ready for an attack. Shellshock swiped with his claws but Beltiger bent back dodging it and coming back with a left hook to Shellshock's jaw making him stumble back, Beltiger then jumped high into the air and grabbed onto Shellshock's back "Panther! Go for it!" Beltiger shouted with Panther nodding "Catalcysm!"

Beltiger thought fast and pulled back making Shellshock back away from Panther's hand, Panther leaped forward in an attempt to touch Shellshock but Beltiger turned him to the side and out of the way "he's fighting back! I'll get him off his feet" Beltiger jumped off Shellshock while still holding him and used his momentum to throw him through a wall. Panther flicked his hand and the Cataclysm disappeared "let's not reduce him to ashes just yet" Beltiger stated with Panther nodding "right, that would be a mess" Beltiger and Panther walked through the hole in the wall to confront Shellshock, Shellshock flicked his fingers forward and an electric net shot out of the tips. Beltiger jumped over it while Panther got caught and was getting constantly shocked, Beltiger rushed in with a series of bodyblows to Shellshock, Shellshock threw a backhand but Beltiger ducked under ans delivered an uppercut to Shellshock's jaw causing Shellshock to stumble. Beltiger threw two more shots to Shellshock's stomach and finished by grabbing Shellshock by the hair and throwing a knee into Shellshock's nose sending him tumbling back.

Panther broke free of the nets and jumped in extending his metal pole weapon and smacking Shellshock on the shell with it causing the pole to conduct electricity and shock Panther away. Beltiger ran forwarf and threw a kick but Shellshock recovered and grabbed his leg swinging him toward a wall, Beltiger put his arms behind his head to cushion the blow, the wall behind Beltiger was crushed and Shellshock immediately lifted him back up and slammed him on the ground bouncing him off the ground. Shellshock swung Beltiger around and threw him away, while airborne Beltiger charged a fireball and threw it at Shellshock causing it to explode and weaken Shellshock, Panther suddenly appeared and hit Shellshock in the knee with his staff, Panther continued the assault by spinning the staff in his hands and jabbing Shellshock on the stomach then smacking him in the jaw. Shellshock stumbled back and Panther began twirling his staff above him, Shellshock threw a punch but Panther quickly thrusted the staff into the ground and balanced on top of it dodging the punch. Panther brought his foot down and kicked Shellshock on the top of the head causing him to kneel, Panther landed and shrunk the stick putting it right infront of Shellshock's face, Panther extended the staff striking Shellshock in the face with it.

Shellshock flew back and slid across the floor and sprawled visibly shaken by what had happened, Beltiger joined Panther and readies themselves. Shellshock struggled to his feet, his breathing was heavy and he looked completely wiped, Panther cracked his knuckles "I think this meeting is done here, you better report to your boss on your failure to get rid of me" Shellshock chuckled "I wonder what Cobalt's up to" Panther felt his body shudder "what are you talking about?" Shellshock laughed "him and Duma are probably having a drink right now, catching up" Panther jumpes forward landing on Shellshock and pressing his neck with his staff staring into Shellshock's eyes before twirling the staff and cracking Shellshock with it knocking him out. Panther jumped off and turned to Beltiger "gimme the Miraculous back" Beltiger nodded and took it off giving it to Panther "go home, I have shit to take care of" Ben nodded and ran out the door but quickly ducked into an alley "Prowwl, Let's Hunt!" Beowulf jumped onto a roof and listened to the city, he quickly picked up the telltale screaming of people "that way" Beowulf suddenly heard commotion in the exact opposite direction "great" Beowulf whirled around and pointed his claws at Panther who was standing behind him "I'm not here to fight, I wanna save my men, and I know you wanna save the citizens so help me save them" Beowulf lowered his claws "I got Cobalt" Panther nodded and took off, Beowulf breathed deeply "this is gonna get messy".

Beowulf made it to Midnight Fortune where the fight had made it to the streets "it must cost a fortune to maintain this place" Beowulf thought to himself before leaping down, Duma and Burnix were circling eachother, both were already battle damaged. Beowulf quietly circled them, waiting for something to happen, the two suddenly charged at eachother and when they were about to make contact before being stopped by a whistle from Beowulf "hey boys, room for one more?" Beowulf jumped infront of Duma "howdy" Beowulf said before taking a swing at Duma, Duma quickly deflected and counterstriked but Beowulf blocked it and threw and elbow into Duma's midsection making him stumble back, Burnix rushed and formed a blade of flame on his hand and swung, Beowulf trapped the blade inbetween his claws pinning it and leaving Burnix helpless, Beowulf jumped up and dropkicked Burnix away. Beowulf turned around and narrowly dodged a punch from Duma, Beowulf snaked his arm infront of Duma's and twisted trapping Duma's arm, Beowulf bent Duma down and kneed him in the side of the head dazing Duma while Beowulf flipped his claws upside down and uppercutted Duma sending him up into the air.

Beowulf was suddenly blasted by a stream of fire that hit him into the window of a building across the plaza. Burnix smirked and turned his attention to the helpless Duma, Burnix charged a fireball but was distracted by a shout coming from Beowulf "Wolfsbane!" Burnix turned to see Beowulf rushing towards him with blue energy forming around his fist, Burnix launched the fireball but Beowulf snaked under it and struck Burnix in the midsection sending him flying "Devour the Power!" Beowulf absorbed the power and his costume erupted in flames becoming red with orange and yellow highlights, Beowulf coated his claws in fire and flicked them making them into six shuriken "I gotta admit, this is pretty awesome". Duma landed on his feet and reorientated himself, Duma sped toward Beowulf and put his shoulder down fully intent to ram into Beowulf. Beowulf threw down the shuriken creating a wall of fire causing Duma to make an emergency brake not to hit the wall "dammit" Duma whispered before rushing over to the other side only to get blindsided by a right cross from Beowulf knocking him out. Beowulf walked over to Duma to take his Miraculous but was hit from behind with an intense heat and knocked into a building "ow, shit" Beowulf exclaimed before shoving the debris off of himself "you really like to piss in other people's stew don't ya?"Burnix questioned with Beowulf shrugging in response "what can I say? I've got a nervous bladder" Burnix growled and launched a volley of fireballs at Beowulf, Beowulf quickly ran to the side barely evading the barrage before rushing Burnix and throwing a knee into his midsection causing him to crumple and fall to the ground. Beowulf turned his attention to Duma who was regaining conciousness and rushed Beowulf, Beowulf couldn't react and was kicked into the air. Beowulf thought fast and threw shurikens at Duma, the shurikens quickly surrounded Duma and trapped him in a pillar of fire, Beowulf waited for a few seconds and then recalled the shurikens. The pillar dissipated and Duma was barely able to stand, Beowulf turned to the side and step kicked Duma in the face causing him to do a full flip in the air and land on his back.

Beowulf dusted off his shoulders and saw the lights of police vehicles "better remove their Miraculous" Beowulf reached down but something suddenly wrapped around his waist and yanked him away, the thing let Beowulf go and flung him over a building, Beowulf landed on his feet and a large entity landed across the street from him "hey Bug Breath" Beowulf quipped, Skorpoxus growled "don't mock me boy!" Skorpoxus jumped forward and thrusted his claw into the ground causing pillars of rock to erupt from the ground and in the direction of Beowulf. Beowulf backflipped away from them before springing forward from a handstand and running on the pillars and toward Skorpoxus, Skorpoxus quickly thrusted his tail forward but Beowulf dodged it, Skorpoxus kept jabbing but Beowulf maneuvered past the jabs and suddenly leaped into the sky and onto Skorpoxus' back, Skorpoxus reeled his tail back and jabbed but he suddenly felt his own stinger pierce the back of his neck. Skorpoxus fell to the ground with Beowulf standing right infront of him, one of Beowulf's clones appeared next to him and he highfived it "good work, now I need to transform back and recharge" Beowulf went into an alley and transformed back "hey Prowwl, take a rest" Prowwl took the piece of beef jerky" Ben paced around "this seems way too easy" Sturnn responded "maybe we're just getting better" Ben shook his head "no...it took all I had just to beat one of those guys and I'm taking them out no problem, something's up" Prowwl finished eating "none the less, we should keep at it, I'm fully charged now" Ben nodded "Prowwl, Let's Hunt!" Ben transformed and made his way to the ruckus on the other side of the city.

Beowulf landed to see destruction everywhere, flipped cars and cracked streets "woah, this community has seen better days" Beowulf jumped down to investigate, Beowulf ran his hands on claw marks in the cars "whose the most logical suspect?" Beowulf said to himself before a gust of wind took him off his feet and into the air "shoulda guessed...Tengu" Tengu floated infront of him "that's riiiiight, did you miss me?" Beowulf crossed his arms "not really, my hair always gets messed up when you come around" Tengu pouted "well, I'll make sure to mess up more than your hair!" Tengu directed the wind and threw Beowulf to the pavement, Beowulf rolled on the ground and half sprawled before popping back onto his feet "get ready Hero, because I'm gonna blow you away" Beowulf put his hands on his hips "I just took down Burnix, Duma, and Skorpoxus before getting to you, I doubt you'll give me more trouble than they did" Tengu gritted her teeth but that quickly changed to a grin "we'll see" Tengu suddenly blasted off down the street taking out the street lights. Beowulf looked around, the fire from the cars was the only source of light, Beowulf could hear the whizzing of Tengu's wings and occasionally a blast of whind from her sheer speed. Beowulf whirled around looking in different directions but unable to pinpoint where she was, Beowulf was suddenly hit in the face and skipped across the ground. Beowulf recovered quickly and twirled around and kicked only to hit nothing, Beowulf caught a kick to the midsection that sent him flying and was only stopped flying into one of the wrecked cars, Beowulf propped himself up and held his stomach "okay, this isn't going the way I thought" a voice from the darkness sounded off taunting Beowulf "what's wrong? Can't fight in the dark?" Her voice suddenly came from a different side "awwww, not so tough when you can't see?" Beowulf breathed deeply to calm himself "if I can't use my eyes in the dark, I'll use my ears" Beowulf took out the Bat Miraculous and put them on "Prowwl, Scree, Unify!"

Batwolf listened for any sound, he caught the telltale sound of the whirring of Tengu's wings, Batwolf screeched down the street creating a map for himself, Batwolf saw Tengu moving fast. Batwolf took out two sickles and ran towards Tengu, Batwolf jumped up and hooked Tengu's wings as she passed under him. Batwolf was pulled by Tengu and both of them flew through the air, the bitter cold wind rushed past both of them stinging their faces, Batwolf positoned himself and threw both of his feet into Tengu's back causing both of them to crash into a building. Tengu got up and shook the debris out of her hair and faced Batwolf who was standing in a readied stance but his eyes weren't fixed on Tengu, Tengu took a step to the side and Batwolf moved his foot to face her, Tengu took differing steps and noticed that Batwolf tracked her movement the moment her foot touched the ground. Tengu smirked and quickly stomped the ground then quietly floated to the opppsite side and rushed Batwolf, Batwolf's ears perked up as he picked up the sound of Tengu's breath and quickly dodged the rush and throwing a kick into Tengu's back causing her to fall to the ground below.

Batwolf sighed "Prowwl, Scree, Divide" Beowulf jumped down and looked around to find that Tengu was gone, the moon had illuminated the street and he could see again "where did she go?" Beowulf heard footsteps coming from each direction, he was surrounded. Beowulf kept his eyes on each direction as he saw multiple figures appear from the darkness "this isn't Tengu" one of them said with another looking up at the sky "looks like we missed her, not to worry brother, we have Beowulf" Beowulf counted five of them "shot in the dark but, are you guys my backup? Please say yes" One of them laughed "do you hear that sister? He thinks we'll help him, how...pointlessly hopeful" Beowulf felt his stomach sink, he had been through this before but not to this extent. The one on Beowulf's left stepped forward, he had a chain around his neck, it was a Miraculous. Beowulf sighed "just how many Miraculous are there?" The man laughed "hundreds, since that Guardian Temple reappeared 20 years ago" The other two stepped forward, the woman had a chatelaine around her waist and the final one had a signet ring on their left hand "ready?" One of the asked with the others eerily answering in unison "ready" Beowulf objected "no, not ready, definitely not ready".

One of them shouted "Coill! Wrap and Crush!" the woman transformed aswell "Queen! Multiply!" The final one let out a maniacal laugh "Flipp! Horn On!" One was a centipede, his costume was maroon and orange in color and was covered in armor resembling the shell of a centipede, his helmet encompassed his entire head and had a purple visor, the most striking things were the giant gauntlets encasing his hands. The ant one resembled a queen, a large purple and white dress covered her black armor, her face was covered by a maks that had red markings highlighting where her facial features would have been, her hair was changed to pure white and she had a bow in her hand. The last one had a dark brown carapace with a large horn portruding from his helmet, a metallic wicked smile stretched along his face mask, Beowulf watched all three of them waiting for one of them to make a move, the Centipede finally spoke "Swarm him".


	20. Tension

The Beetle charged forward with his horn lowered, Beowulf front flipped over him but was caught by the Centipede's claws. Beowulf tried to pry them open but he was too strong and slammed Beowulf into the ground, the Centipede leaned close to Beowulf's face "weak, frail, not like me" Beowulf struggled to get out "lemme guess, your name's a pun or mash up of some word and Centipede right?" The Centipede laughed "not quite, I'm a little more educated, call me Scolistrike" Scolistrike held Beowulf there and the Ant rushed thrusting her rapier forward, Beowulf put his foot in Scolistrike's chest and flipped him onto her and escaped. Beowulf then heard the sound of a fan and turned to see the Beetle revving his wings as if they were a motor and laughed "call me Kabuto!" Kabuto blasted toward Beowulf and hit him smashing him into a building, Beowulf had managed to keep his horn from actually hitting him. Kabuto smirked and flipped Beowulf with his horn launching him into the sky, Scolistrike jumped up and brought down his gauntlet onto Beowulf launching him back down to the ground forming a crater. Beowulf felt his brain spinning in his head and tried to get up only to be stabbed in the shoulder and pinned by the Ant, she leaned in until her head was right next to Beowulf's "my brothers like to play with their food, I don't find any use for it" Beowulf responded "well, thank you I guess" she then dug her rapier deeper causing Beowulf even greater pain "that doesn't mean I don't find the fun in it" Scolistrike landed and walked over "c'mon Empress Ant, let's stop toying with him and finish this" Empress sighed and kept Beowulf pinned and a handle appeared from one of Scolistrike's gauntlets, Centistryke grabbed it and pulled out a blade.

Scolistrike raised the blade and brought it down only to get a dropkick to the chest from a clone made by Beowulf, the clone sprang off of Scolistrike and punched Enpress freeing Beowulf. Beowulf jumped up and backed away "time to vanish!" Beowulf raised a small ball and threw it on the ground causing the entire surrounding area to be filled with smoke that blinded and choked the villains. Beowulf made it to the top of a building and hid while the villains made it out of the smoke "where is he?!" Kabuto yelled with Scolistrike smacking him in the head "don't bother with that now, we need to find Cobalt and the others and off them tonight, if not, Pangolin's gonna have our heads" Kabuto grumbled "he doesn't even have his Miraculous, how much of a threat can he be?" Scolistrike sighed and quickly slashed Kabuto in the chest causing him to scream in pain. The sounds of sirens could be heard in the distance "damn, it's the police, we'll have to continue this later" Scolistrike and Empress jumped away and Kabuto limped after them. Beowulf caught his breath before peeking over the side to see that they were gone, Beowulf made his way back to his apartment and snuck in. Beowulf de-transformed and the pain began to settle in his shoulder "better patch this up" Prowwl and Sturnn wrapped the wound and Ben checked his phone to see 36 messages and 20 missed calls "oh boy" he whispered before calling his mom "hey mo-" Ben couldn't even finish when his mom exclaimed "it's him!" Ben pulled his phone away from his ear as the cheering began, once it had died down Ben put his ear back to his phone "hey mom, don't worry about me, I'm home now" he and his mom talked for awhile until she told him they were coming back home from the police station.

Ben put down his phone and walked to the balcony, his wound was burning as was the rest of his left arm "I lost again today" Ben said, Prowwl floated over to him "what do you mean Ben?" Ben sighed and leaned against the balcony "what did I accomplish tonight?" Prowwl thought about it "you saved Cobalt" Ben scoffed slightly "yeah, saving a psychopath from another psychopath made this injury worthwhile huh?" Sturnn suddenly flew over and rammed into Ben's cheek knocking him to the floor "what's the matter with you?! We saved lives today, how many people do you think could've been hurt by the fight between Cobalt and Berko?" Ben rubbed his cheek and lifted himself up, Prowwl floated infront of Ben "my brother, as brash as he may be, has a point, don't you think you also helped Timothy today? Not just with defending him against Shellshock, but even...bonding with him" Ben made a 'tch' sound and got up "bonding with Timothy? Not likely, he's just someone I've gotta take down" Prowwl crossed his arms "this way of thinking is bad Benjamin, believing someone can't be redeemed is a very narrow way of thinking, and a dangerous one at that, closing yourself off from enemies that can become friends may turn you cold and distant to the ones you have already bonded with" Ben sighed "you're right, you're both right, this isn't the way I want to think but, it's hard, every bad guy I fight is in it for themselves, selfish sociopaths that only care about themselves" Prowwl and Sturnn sat on his shoulders "Ben...this responsibility isn't easy, there are decisions you have to make for the greater good, even if that choice might not sit well with you" Ben leaned against the balcony to suddenly see his dad's car park on the sidewalk "crap, they're back, you two hide" his Kwami flew into their hiding spots when he heard the thunderour footsteps of his dad trailed by two, less heavy set of footsteps.

Ben walked into the kitchen just as his dad unlocked the door followed by his mom and Sophia, Ben could barely get a word out before all three of the rushed him. Ben managed to wriggle out of their death grip and slip past them "guys, I'm fine" all three of them turned, his mom walked over and hugged him "my baby is safe" Ben hugged her back. Ben and Sophia sat in his room, she rewrapped his wound "man, the person who wrapped this did a shit job huh?" Ben chuckled "yeah" after she was done Ben turned to her and she rested her head on his and began to tear up, Ben put his hands on her cheeks and looked at her "I'm safe babe" the tears began to run and they embraced. Ben woke up the next morning, Sophia was sleeping next to him "must've dozed off during all that crying" Ben stretched and got ready for school, Sophia got up shortly after noticing Ben was getting ready "hey! What do you think you're doing?" Ben looked at her puzzled "I'm...getting ready for school?" She popped out of the bed and marched over to him "with that injury? No way, you have to go to the hospital" Ben reassured her "I'm fine, it just needs to heal" Sophia pouted and Ben sighed "look, if something happens during school I'll make sure to tell the teacher, they'll send me to the hospital" Sophia sighed "fine...but if you do get sent, make sure to let me and the guys know, also your parents". Ben smiled and kissed her forehead, Sophia noticed that Ben was nearly her height as he walked off into the bathroom "huh, when did that happen?".

Ben and Sophia arrived at school to hear the telltale whisperings of their classmates directed at them "never gets old, does it babe?" Ben said with Sophia nodding "mhm" Ben noticed Mason and Arnold rushing toward them "and here they come" Ben whispered. Mason stopped infront of them "we heard what happened...dude, why does all the awesome stuff happen to you?" Ben chuckled "I'm just a magnet for danger" Mason laughed and punched Ben in the shoulder causing an excurciating amount of pain which caused him to crumple "oh jeez dude, I'm sorry" Sophia punched Mason in the side "the hell's wrong with you?" Ben got back onto his feet "I'm fine, just a flesh wound" Ben made his way to class when a ringing in his ear began to slowly get louder. Ben sat down in class where Mrs. Moirah stood at his desk "Mr. Williams, I'm glad to see you're alright, after what happened yesterday I was sure I'd have to wait to tell you that you had the highest marks in the class on the exam, congratulations!" Ben didn't hear a word she said as the ringing consumed his entire sense of hearing, he stared out the window into the city focusing on a single point, Ben called out "hello?" Something answered back.

Ben found himself in a void with a voice calling out to him "Beowulf" Ben looked at his hands to see that he had become Beowulf "what?" He whispered with something dashing past his vision, Beowulf backed up and whirrled around in a panic "who's there?" White smoke surrounded him and began to take shape, multiple figures emerged covered in smoke, they called to Beowulf "Beowulf" Beowulf looked for his weapon but he didn't have either of them. Beowulf looked around "who are you?" He asked with one of them appearing behind him causing him to turn around "You" The figure spoke before Beowulf snapped out of it, the ringing was gone and he was back in class with Mrs. Moirah standing infront of him "Mr. Williams? Are you alright?" Ben rubbed the back of his head "yes, Mrs. Moirah, I'm still a bit shooken up from what happened" Mrs. Moirah nodded "well, if you need to be excused just let me know" Ben nodded "will do" Ben could barely pay attention to the lesson when the ringing returned, it became unbearable and Ben raised his hand "may I be excused to the bathroom?" Ben stated with Mrs. Moirah being caught offguard "y-yes Mr. Williams, you may be excused" Ben rushed to the bathroom and ran into the stall. Ben leaned against the door and wiped the sweat from his forehead and breathed deeply before looking at his Miraculous "what do you want?" Ben found himself back in the void where they were waiting for him "we want to teach you" Beowulf looked around "teach me what?!" They didn't respond "TEACH ME WHAT?!" One of them stepped forward "teach you strength" another one stepped forward "control" the others stepped forward "teach you POWER".


	21. Crash Course

Ben returned to class and sat down, the ringing stopped and he could finally think clearly "Miraculous are complicated" Ben whispered to himself. Mrs. Moirah wrote the words "Class Trip" she turned to the class "students, as you may know this class scored the highest in the school, as a reward the district is willing to fund a class trip to the Central Park Zoo!" Most of the class stood up and cheered with Mrs. Moirah settling them down "we always give credit where credit is due and credit goes to Nadia!" Ben looked around to see everyone turn to one student and begin clapping, Ben looked behind him to see a girl with a shocked expression on her face, Ben followed the others and clapped noticing Nadia paying attention to him the most. Mrs. Moirah continued "I will now hand out permission slips, have them signed by Thursday, we will split up into groups of four on Thursday, make sure you get these signed by wednesday".

Ben sat with the others at lunch, while the others were talking about the trip Ben was lost in his own thoughts, he remembered his first fight with Tremaine and the fight against the other three from last night. An echoed voice called to him, bouncing around in his head before it became clear and it was Sophia who was trying to snap him out of "hey Benji, you look lost" Ben looked her in the eyes "I'm fine babe, I'm just...looking forward to the trip". Once school was out Ben and the others made their way to Ben's house, Ben thought of a way to get away from them so he pulled out his phone and put on his best Poker Face and prepared to lie through his teeth "hey guys, you guys go ahead to my house, I got something from an employer that might wanna hire me" Ben ran down an alleyway leaving them stunned and confused. Ben made his way to Adrien's prepared to ask so many questions, Ben flung the door of the Pawn Shop "Adrien! I need to talk to you" Adrien just stood there polishing a watch "hey Ben, like the renovations I've done?" Ben ran to the counter "my Miraculous...it talked!" Adrien looked confused "yeah...Miraculous do have things that can talk" Ben shook his head "no, no, no" the Miraculous itself talked to me, well not really, it was more like ghosts inside my Miraculous were talking to me" Adrien put the watch down and thought "let's run a test".

Adrien and Ben sat on the roof of the Pawn Shop "okay, Transform" Ben transformed and looked at himself "nothing unusual" Adrien said while pacing around him studying him "hmmm, power down for now, if you do hear the voices again, make sure to contact me as soon as possible" Beowulf nodded and transformed back into Ben "and just to be sure, try to limit your powers, don't exert yourself if you don't have to" Ben nodded and went downstairs where he noticed a peculiar set of earrings in the display case "that's a new piece" Adrien looked at what he noticed "ah! Those are a replica of the Ladybug Miraculous...I wonder where Ladybug is now" Ben looked at Adrien "maybe you should...go back to Paris one day" Adrien shook his head "no...Adrien died in Paris, now I'm just Donovan" Ben adjusted his backpack and headed to the door "well, I'll see you Adrien" Adrien nodded and watched as Ben exited the shop "God help that boy, the power he has is...disturbing".

As Ben was crossing the street a car flew past him nearly hitting him, he also noticed that the car alarm was going off in that car "stolen car" he whispered to himself before dipping into an alley "Sturnn, Let's Hunt!" Ben transformed and chased after the stolen vehicle but not stopping it. Beowulf saw the car pull into a bodyshop, Beowulf jumped to the window and peered inside while hanging off it. Beowulf saw three ski mask wearing thugs get out of the car and were met by Cobalt "Cobalt, even with powers you're still a lowly thug" Beowulf quietly opened the window and snuck in. Cobalt greeted the men "good job boys, Mr. Grayson will be pleased, pop the trunk" one of the men opened the trunk to reveal a briefcase and gave it to Cobalt, Cobalt opened it and Beowulf looked inside, they were new Pseudo-Miraculous. Beowulf decided to announce himself by whistling "wooooow Cobalt, that's some purdy jewlery" Cobalt looked around "you dolts were followed?!" One of the thugs responded "we didn't know!" Cobalt snapped back "you know the procedure on checking for the Wolf" the thug shrugged "we did the procedure but we didn't see nothing all the way here" Cobalt stomped his foot "well he's here now!" Cobalt retreated and tossed one of them a Pseudo "come back with his head and it's an instant promotion".

Beowulf jumped out of his hiding spot and into the light, two of the thugs got on either side of Beowul. Beowulf kept his hands at his sides with his guard down, one of them threw a wild haymaker at Beowulf which was quickly dodged and countered with a right cross that floored him immediately. The second one took out a tire iron and swung with Beowulf weaving to the side to avoid the wild strikes, Beowulf grabbed the back of his coat and kneed him in the stomach and tossing him into the side of the car taking him out. Beowulf looked at the last guy who was about to use Pseudo "look buddy, you don't wanna use that" the thug smirked "I think I do" he put it on with seemingly nothing happening. Beowulf noticed yellow cracks in the thug's skin as did he "what the-" Beowulf whispered before the cracks nearly consumed his body and he erupted causing Beowulf to be blown back, the smoke cleared and Beowulf hot to his feet to see a giant crater where the man used to be and standing there was a new Supervillain.

The villain stood there looking at himself, his costume was black with asymmetrical cracks along the torso, wedges on the outer part of the thighs looked like the carapace of an insect and the boots he had were two toed and they looked like the claws of a cricket. A haunting yellow light emanating from cracks and holes in the costume, his helmet was shiny and chrome and the mouth was shaped into a wicked smile with pointed teeth, the eyes were similar to a Jack-O-Lantern, both glowed with the similar yellow light, two antenna portruded from the top back of his helmet and curved back nearly going behind his head. Beowulf decided to speak up "sooooo...how's it feel?" The villain looked at Beowulf "it feels good" Beowulf steeled himself "so what am I gonna call you?" Beowulf asked with the villain conjuring a yellow ball of energy in both of his hands and looking ath Beowulf "I think Bombeetle suits me now" Bombeetle threw the ball which rocketed toward Beowulf, upon impact the ball exploded and shot Beowulf through the garage door and caused him to skid across the parking lot. Beowulf shook off the pain "nope, that was nothing, just a little blunt force trauma and third degree burns" Bombeetle's voice echoed from the garage "oh I assure you Hero, that little taste is nothing compared to what I got for you" Bombeetle threw the ball at Beowulf's feet which he dodged but the impact with the ground caused an explosion that threw Beowulf into a brick wall.

Beowulf fell to the ground but quickly recovered as Bombeetle threw two more in his direction, Beowulf dove to avoid the first one but was hit directly by the second one throwing him into the street. Beowulf propped himself onto his elbows still reeling from the attack. Beowulf clenched his teeth, his face became hot and his anger began to flare up, Bombeetle formed another bomb and lobbed it, Beowulf suddenly sprung into the air and flung his flail striking Bombeetle in the face, the blow caused cracked Bombeetle's helmet and his right eye was now visible through the crack in the helmet. Beowulf landed and pulled back the flail hooking Bombeetle's ankle and tripping him, Beowulf yanked the chain and pulled Bombeetle towards him dragging him across the pavement. Bombeetle threw a bomb but Beowulf dodged it and with one powerful pull he lifted Bombeetle into the air, Bombeetle fell toward Beowulf, Beowulf reeled back and threw his fist into Bombeetle's midsection "Wolfsbane!" Beowulf shouted while shifting Bombeetle to align with the ground, Beowulf took a step forward and smashed Bombeetle into the street creating a giant crater. Beowulf pulled a yellow orb out of Bombeetle "Devour the Power" he said before he absorbed the orb and his costume became yellow in color, Beowulf looked at Bombeetle in the crater and tilted his head, Beowulf pointed the Wolf Head at Bombeetle and began to charge a ball of energy.

Prowwl suddenly appeared and tried to stop Beowulf "what are you doing?!" Prowwl grabbed Beowulf's wrist and tried to pull it away but he was swatted away by Beowulf. Bombeetle began to crawl away "hey kid take it easy, I give I give just don't blast me, please!" Beowulf's vision began to blur and he shook his head a little, he suddenly snapped out of it, too late to stop the blast he fired. The shot barely missed Bombeetle's head evident of the small smoking hole in the ground, Beowulf yanked the Pseudo off Bombeetle "gimme that" Beowulf looked at the Pseudo then back to the thug "get outta here, don't let me see you ever again" the thug ran off in a panic. Beowulf stood there holding the Pseudo "what was that? The Power's never made me act like that" Prowwl floated slowly over to Beowulf "Prowwl!" Beowulf shouted before hugging the tiny creature "I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened" Prowwl began to think "let's go back home, we'll talk about it there". Ben got home and opened the door to see his friends and parents gathered around the coffee table "Ben, come in! We're about to play Uno!" Ben smiled and walked in excited to play.

Ben sat in his room, his friends had gone home and he was finally alone with his Kwami "okay Prowwl, what's your theory?" Prowwl cleared his throat "as you know, the Wolf Miraculous has always been in the hands of...unsavory individuals, from Warlords to Gangsters...to even Dictators, the Wolf Miraculous has always found itself in Evil's hands, you're the first wielder to possess the need to help people" Ben nodded and looked at his Miraculous "wow, never really thought about the history of this thing" Prowwl nodded while Sturnn gorged himself on jerky "what you may not know is how the Miraculous works when it is passed onto another, Miraculous are similar to a file cabinet or a hard drive, they store data, specifically they store just a little bit of an owner's essence, their soul, once you put on that Miraculous you were put into the system and will remain there until the Miraculous is destroyed in some way". Ben tilted his head slightly "so what does this mean?" Prowwl sighed "I hope I'm wrong but...those voices you hear, they may be the essence of the former Miraculous Wielders, organized in some way and communicating with you. If these spirits are infuencing you, then maybe Adrien was right, limit how kuch you use your powers" Ben responded "sounds good in theory, but what about stopping crime? If I'm handicapped like this then there's gonna be a lot more instances like tonight...hold on" Ben walked over to his desk and pulled out a Miraculous box "I think it's time for Sophia to become a solo hero...temporarily of course".


	22. Tangled

Ben sat on a fire escape of Sophia's building "y'know, this could be seen as stalking" Ben whispered with Sturnn ignorantly responding "you can't stalk your own girlfriend Ben" Ben groaned "Proooowwl, please hurry" Prowwl came out of Sophia's room "package delivered, did you know she sleeps with a nightlight?" Ben responded "no time for that, now let's get out of here before we get caught" Prowwl nodded "yeah, like a creep". The next morning Sophia opened her eyes and sensed something wrong, she flipped up her covers to see a Miraculous Box balanced at the foot of her bed, she crawled to it and opened it to find a note and the Spider Miraculous with Byyte coming out "huh, peculiar" she picked up the note and opened it, it was from Beowulf "Sophia, unfortunately I will be indisposed for the week, I am leaving New York in your hands, prove me right in trusting you with this responsibility, Sincerely Beowulf" Sophia looked at the note for a minute with Byyte attempting to snap her out of it "Soph-" she was interrupted by Sophia screaming with joy and falling back onto her bed "yes yes yes! I can't believe it, I'm a Superhero, for a week maybe but that's a lot of time to prove myself! I can't wait to tell Benji" Sophia reached for her phone but Byyte stopped her "right...secret identity".

Sophia's bedroom door flung open and a tall well-built man was there "what's wrong?!" Sophia sat there "nothing dad...just a spider" her dad was confused "you've never been afraid of spiders before" Sophia responded "well...this one was a big one" her dad shrugged "breakfast's ready, come get it before it gets cold" he closed the door and left Sophia alone, she caught her breath and silently celebrated. Sophia entered the kitchen where there were pancakes waiting for her "ooooh, what's the occasion dad?" Sophia then remembered the date "right...Mom's birthday" her dad silently flipped a pancake before saying "hey, how 'bout afterschool we go to Cubano's?" Sophia lit up "Mom's favorite! That'd be great!" Her Dad continued "and you can bring your friend along, what was his name? Bill?" Sophia sighed "Ben, and he's not just a friend, he's my boyfriend" her Dad scoffed "mhm, well I haven't met him yet so I'll be the judge of him being boyfriend material" Sophia sighed and ate. After she was done Sophia walked out the door but first kissed her two fingers and put it on a picture of her mom by the door.

Sophia made her way to school and met up with Ben at the corner "hey Benji" she bent down a bit and kissed him on the cheek "hey babe" Ben responded and they began to walk. A couple of minutes passed before Sophia asked Ben "hey...you wanna come with me and my dad tonight to Cubano's?" Ben looked at her "that Mexican place? Sure, what's the occasion?" Sophia answered "it's my mom's birthday and we're gonna celebrate there" Ben thought for a second making a "hm" sound purposefully making Sophia anxious "eh, why not?" Sophia punched him in the arm "you did that on purpose" Ben laughed and put his arm around her waist with her leaning into it. Sophia and Ben arrived at school to see Mason and Harvey wrestling with eachother "hey guys" Mason said before putting Harvey in a full nelson then letting go when he tapped out Ben and Mason high fived and he hugged Sophia "where's Arnold?" Ben asked with Mason pointing to the Principal's Office "no way, Arnold?" Sophia said befuddled "yup, turns out optimizing the computers in the lab is supposed to be the district's job" Arnold came out of the office and met up with the others, Mason was first "so? What'd ya get?" Arnold lifted up a piece of paper "detention. quite unfortunate" Mason laughed and patted Arnold on the back "congrats man, you popped your detention cherry" Arnold looked embarassed and Sophia decided to interject "don't worry Arnold, I'm sure detention isn't all bad" Arnold smiled "thank you Sophia".

That night Ben arrived at Sophia's apartment, he had picked out his best outfit a blue button up collared shirt with a black tie and suspenders holding up dress pants with black and white dress shoes, Sophia opened the door, she was in her pajamas, but her makeup was all ready "come inside" Ben was visibly nervous to step in "awww, you nervous Benji?" She walked down and embraced him with Ben holding her "no, no, no, it's not that, I just don't think I should be here, this is a night for you and your dad" Sophia leaned away and looked at him "my dad asked me to invite you, don't worry babe" Ben smiled and kissed her. Ben opened one eye to see her dad standing in the doorway with his arms crossed, Ben nearly choked and they separated "what's up Ben?" Sophia turned around and her face went pale "d-dad?! How long have you been standing there?!" Her dad looked bemiffed "long enough" Ben scratches the back of his head "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Briggar" Ben stuck out his hand but her dad looked at it then at Sophia "make sure to get ready, let's go inside" they all went inside and Sophia went to her room leaving Ben and her dad alone in the kitchen. Ben sat at the counter and twiddled his thumbs while Mr. Briggar cracked his knuckles staring at him, Ben gestured to a cat clock hanging "t-that's really cute" Mr. Briggar interrupted "how old are you, Ben?" Ben looked at him and answered "I-I'm 15 sir" Mr. Briggar responded "a little young aren't you? A little-" he leaned forward "out of your league" Ben felt the blood in his head heat up "my Little Bambino is a Star okay? Someday she's gonna be on TVs everywhere, her face is gonna be on cereal boxes alright? She is one tough cookie and her special someone should...reflect that strength, now tell me, how does a boy a head shorter than her reflect her strength?" Ben felt a lump in his throat form, he was about to respond when Sophia came out "I'm ready" Ben turned around and was starstruck.

Sophia stepped into the kitchen, she wore a black and white color block dress with cap sleeves, she wore three strap pumps that added to her height. Ben got up and walked over, Sophia put her hands out and Ben took them "you look...so beautiful" Sophia giggled "thank you, and you look just as handsome as always" Sophia and Ben laughed with her Dad clearing his throat "c'mon, let's take some pictures and then we can go" after taking pictures, with Ben only being in one of them they drove to Cubano's. Mr. Briggar let the two out at the front and went to find parking, Sophia and Ben walked in "wow, this place is really authentic, no wonder your mom loved this place" Sophia nodded "she brought my dad here on their first date and he fell in love with this place". Mr. Briggar came in and joined them, the Hostess led them to a table and they began to order "what's Tripitas?" Ben asked, the waitress was about to answer when Mr. Briggar stopped her and said "he'll have the tacos de tripas" he leaned over to Ben "trust me, it's good" Ben was cautious but agreed, Sophia ordered the Chili Relleno and her dad ordered Posole, Ben saw her dad pull something out from a bag, it was the photo of Sophia's mom, he placed it next to him at the table and ordered an Elote for her.

Ben finished his food and patted his stomach "those were amazing, what were they?" Sophia giggled "those were tacos with the lining of a cow stomach" Ben looked at his clean plate "oh..." her dad bursted out in laughter "oh Diamond, you would've laughed your ass off". Sophia looked at the picture "yeah, she would've loved that joke" the moment was spoiled by a loud patron who was causing a scene "What do you mean you guys don't have fajitas?! I want real Mexican food!" Sophia rolled her eyes and said "don't pay attention to that" her dad looked back "great...c'mon kids, let's pay and leave" Sophia and Ben nodded and the disruptive customer finally left but not before saying "don't worry, I'l be back" Sophia's dad paid and they headed toward the door when Ben heard the familiar 'whooshing' sound, Ben then yelled at Mr. Briggar "Get Down!" Ben pushed Mr. Briggar out of the way before the door exploded and Tengu flew in perching on a table "this'll teach you about customer service!" Tengu grabbed a chair with her talons and threw it at an employee barely missing them. Sophia and Ben took her dad and ran out of the building "I'll go find help" Sophia said before running off and her dad called out to her but she was already long gone.

Sophia ducked into an alleyway "hoo, okay Byyte, our first solo act" Byyte nodded in agreement "Byyte, Fangs Out!" Byyte was pulled into her Miraculous and she became Arachna once more. Arachna lept onto the roof of Cubano's, she could hear the commotion from inside and decided to go into the air ducts to get the jump on Tengu. Arachna crawled until she was just above Tengu, she bursted out of the vent swinging and kicking Tengu into a wall "sorry to drop in but someone called about a disturbance" Tengu got up, her makeup failing to hide the fact that her face was now red "grrrr, you heroes are always getting in the way!" Tengu launched blades at Arachna who dodged it by spinning sideways, Arachna barely had time to react before Tengu flew forward and kicked her driving her straight into a wall pinning her with her talons, Arachna struggled to get free while Tengu lifted up her bladed wings, Arachna decided to use her height to her advantage, lifting up her legs she locked Tengu's head between them and pried her talons out of the wall and swinging underneath Tengu until she was near the ceiling, Arachna grabbed onto yhe ceiling and swung her legs forward slamming Tengu into the ceiling and dropping her onto a table.

Arachna let go of the ceiling and dropped down putting her hand on the table and spinning it with Tengu still on, Arachna then kicked Tengu off the table making her hit multiple pieces of furniture. Tengu erupted from the mess absolutely furious, she reeled her wings back and threw them forward causing a small wind tunnel to form in the restaurant, Arachna struggled to hold her ground but was eventually taken off her feet, she was about to be thrown through a wall when her spider legs shot out and caught her, Arachna braced herself and the wind tunnel peetered out. Tengu slumped her arms and Arachna sprung forward throwing both her legs into Tengu's midsection knocking her to the ground, Tengu popped up and slashed at Arachna who dodged the flurry with ease. Arachna raised a set of her legs and thrusted them pinning Tengu's wings, using her lower legs she lifted herself up and dropkicked Tengu straight into a booth, Tengu bursted out, with gritted teeth she growled out "Enough Games!" Tengu wipped up a small tornado lifting furniture and silverware and flinging it toward Arachna.

Meanwhile outside Ben and Mr. Briggar stood and watched, suddenly a woman began to panic "my daughter, Silvia, I think she's still inside" Ben looked at the entrance "I'm going in" Ben said before rushing into the building. Ben entered only to barely dodge a knife that was flung by the tornado, Ben ducked down and called out "Silvia, where are you?" through the tempest Ben coukd hear a little girl crying and followed the voice to underneath a table where he saw a little girl in a pink dress "hey, you must be Silvia" the little girl looked at him and nodded "I'm Ben, it's very nice to meet you, now c'mon, we've gotta get you to your mom" Ben outstretched his hand ans Silvia hesitated "don't worry, I'll keep you safe" Silvia took his hand and he began to make his way out of the building. The tornado had dissipated and Arachna was flung through a pillar "oh man" Ben whispered before looking at Tengu who was walking towards them. Ben grabbed a piece of debris and lifted it to defend himself and Silvia, Tengu laughed and Ben swung missing her. Tengu threw a kick and Ben blocked it with the piece barely defending him as he was thrown to the ground, Ben tried to get up but Tengu grabbed him with her talons and lifted him up and slammed him on a table "brave...but ultimately foolish" Ben looked around for anything and saw a somehow intact dish of salsa. Tengu smiled as she prepared to squeeze the life out Ben, suddenly a small rock hit the back of Tengu's head, she looked back to see Silvia with another rock in hand, Silvia threw the rock but Tengu caught it "now that wasn't smart" Ben suddenly yelled "hey freak!" Tengu looked back at Ben only to meet a face full of salsa "See how that tastes!" Tengu released Ben and rubbed her eyes but that only made the spicy salsa seep into her eyes more. Ben got up and rubbed his chest "Hey!" He called out with Tengu turning in his direction, Ben reeled back and punched her with all his strength. Tengu looked at Ben now with mostly clear vision, her face twisted with anger as she was ready to rip Ben to pieces "not my smartest decision".

Arachna sprung forward and kicked Tengu straight through a wall and into an alleyway "both of you, get out of here!" Ben nodded and grabbed Silvia running out of the building. Arachna pursued Tengu into the alley "okay little birdie, where are you?" Arachna heard Tengu's voice "I'm in my element now" Arachna was suddenly hit from behind by Tengu knocking her to the ground. Arachna attempted to get up but Tengu landed on her pinning her to the pavement, Tengu lifted her up and backflipped flinging her into a wall, Arachna caught herself with her spider legs and launched at Tengu swiping at her but was dodged. Tengu flew back then forward kicking Arachna into the side of a dumpster, Arachna got to her feet by lifting herself with her legs secretly grabbing onto the dumpster, Tengu lowered herself and laughed "looks like open air is no good for a spider" Arachna quipped back "well then, time to clip your wings" Arachna slammed the dumpster into Tengu. Arachna breathed heavily as she walked around the dumpster and stopped when she saw Tengu's hand poking out of the bottom of the dumpster "eww, is she dead?" Arachna asked herself.

Tengu's hand suddenly clenched into a fist and she blew off the dumpster in a fit of anger "That Tears It!" She shouted before rushing and knocking Arachna off her feet, Tengu flew underneath Arachna and kicked her high into the air, Arachna flailed around not having anything to anchor herself. Tengu rocketed upward and tackled into Arachna's back, Tengu then flew above Arachna and threw her heel into her gut sending her plummeting toward the ground. Arachna began to panic as the ground became closer, Arachna stretched out her spider legs but they couldn't reach "c'mon, gotta grab something" Arachna whispered to herself. Arachna got an idea "wait...if weapons have alternate forms at the push of a button" Arachna pushed the spider in the middle of her chest and the legs shot out and attached onto the roofs of buildings and caught her fall "HOOOO that is cool!" Arachna shouted, she noticed energy tethers attached to the legs "wow" she took her hand off the symbol and the legs retracted causing her to fall to the ground "ow, gotta keep a hand on the symbol, noted".

Tengu landed and stomped in frustration "What?!" She shouted before flying towards Arachna, Arachna smirked and pressed the symbol causing her spider legs to shoot out and stand. Arachna figured she could control them with her mind, she sent them toward Tengu who stopped to defend herself, she put up her hands to block but Arachna maneuvered one behind her and cracked her in the back with it causing her to lurch forward, Arachna spin kicked Tengu in the jaw knocking her to the floor. Arachna scooped Tengu up with one of her legs and tossed her up, while she was airborne Arachna smacked her to one of her other legs, that leg hit her back to Arachna who spin kicked her sending her twirling and back down to the ground "Snare" Arachna whispered before jumping to the other side of Tengu who was regaining her senses, Arachna kept jumping over Tengu in different directions, Tengu whirled around wondering what she was doing. Arachna stopped jumping and looked Tengu in the eye, Tengu clenched her teeth and prepared to attack, Arachna touched her symbol and her legs shot out again. Tengu realised her situation and took off straight up only to get caught in a giant web Arachna had made above her, Arachna took her hand off her chest and leaned against a lightpole "wow, it was that easy to catch you, didn't even have to do all that fighting and trash my favorite restaurant". Tengu tried to fight the webbing but just got even more stuck "no use fighting, you'll be stuck there for a good five minutes, enough time for me to get you to the police station" suddenly a voice called out "I don't think so, that's my employee you're harassing" Arachna looked up to see Cat Noir standing on a rooftop "uh-oh" Arachna whispered. Cat Noir jumped down to the street, he had his staff on his shoulder and sauntered toward Arachna "if you let her go I won't think twice about it" Arachna scoffed "no way, she trashed this place and she's gonna pay" Cat Noir sighed "fine. Have it your way" Cat Noir rushed and Arachna followed suit, Arachna touched her symbol causing the spider legs to shoot out, she launched them all at once only for them to be deflected by Cat Noir who in one fluid step shoulder checked Arachna causing her to slide across the ground.

Arachna recovered and jumped at Cat Noir spinning her legs, Cat Noir blocked the flurry of blows "Cataclysm" Cat Noir lunged his hand forward but Arachna blocked it with one of the spider legs, the leg began to deteriorate and quickly turned to dust "Woah! You were coulda killed me with that!" Arachna shouted, Cat Noir shrugged "would of ended this quicker" Arachna smacked Cat Noir to the side with one of her legs sending him flying. Cat Noir stabbed his staff into the ground and caught himself, Arachna was about to jump in when her hair tie began to beep "huh, you still have that time limit on your Miraculous" Cat Noir lifted his right hand "not like me, Cataclysm!" Cat Noir jumped up and touched Arachna's webbing causing it to desintegrate freeing Tengu. Tengu immedately grabbed Cat Noir's shoulders and flew off with him leaving Arachna empty-handed, Arachna went into an alley and sighed before punching a wall and cracking it "my first time as a solo hero and I blow it, Byyte, Fangs In" Arachna destransformed and hung her head low "let's get back to dad and Ben".

Sophia came out from the alley and met with her dad and Ben who rushed over to her, she saw that Ben was scuffed up and holding his abdomen "What happened to you?!" Ben laughed but that caused him more pain, her dad interjected "he went in to save a little girl, almost got killed in the process" Sophia punched him in the arm "seriously?!" Ben scratched his head "someone needed to do something" Sophia sighed and hugged Ben "don't do anything that stupid again, you're lucky Arachna was there" Ben looked at her "how did you know she was here?" Sophia got wide eyed and looked around "I...saw the news on my phone" Ben smiled and said "I'm glad you're

okay".

Mr. Briggar stopped infront of their apartment "Sophia, why don't you go inside and get the cake ready? I need to talk to Ben" Sophia protested "leave him alone dad!" Mr. Briggar reassured her "I just wanna talk, now go" Sophia looked at Ben and he gave her a nod, Sophia exited the car and went inside, Mr. Briggar turned around to look at Ben "I misjudged you Ben, from what you looked like I thought you were a spineless wimp who would run at the first sign of trouble, but you really are made of tough stuff" Ben smiled "thanks Mr. Briggar, that means a lot" Mr. Briggar sighed "Sophia is lucky to have people like you in her life" Ben responded "and she's lucky to have sucha caring dad" Mr. Briggar smiled "welp, let's go inside, you're gonna love the cake I picked out". Ben and Mr. Briggar went inside to see the cake had been set up and Sophia standing there, her dad put his hand on her shoulder "I bet your mom has the biggest smile on her face right now" Sophia laughed "I bet she does".


	23. Berserk

Ben opened his eyes to see that he was lying on his back and inside a thick fog "oh, where am I?" Ben stood up and looked around, all he saw was fog. A shape suddenly dashed across his vision, Ben's eyes could barely follow it with how fast it was, once it stopped Ben saw that it was a wolf, it had black fur and was completely feral, it's fur was so dark that Ben couldn't see any detail in it, only it's glowing magenta eyes. The wolf growled at him revealing pearl white teeth, more fog seeped out of its mouth and was about to pounce, Ben turned and began to run and the Wolf took off after him. Ben looked back to see the Wolf gaining on him, Ben pushed himself further to go faster but no matter what he did the Wolf kept getting closer. Ben got an idea and suddenly stopped, the Wolf dove forward and Ben ducked causing it to fly over him, Ben sprinted the other way only to look behind him and see the wolf right on him again, it pounced at him it's gaping maw being the last thing Ben saw.

Ben shot up out of his bed in a sweaty and panicked state, he felt his neck, there was sharp pain that spread across it, as if something had clamped onto it and punctured every spot. Ben got out of bed, his heart was still racing and his body was weak "I need to get a hold of myself, I have to tutor Timothy today, and I have to help Nadia and Arnold with filming" Ben stepped into the shower and just stood in the stream of water thinking about the dream, Sturnn suddenly flew in "Hey! Are you just gonna stand there or are you gonna wash yourself?!" Ben jumped and began to scrub. Ben got dressed and looked at his Miraculous "I should get this thing fixed, thr problem is how". Ben's phone rang, he looked at who was calling, it was Grayson "hey Timothy, I'm just getting ready, I'll be there in about half an hour" Ben walked to Grayson's house and saw that the place was already repaired "the wonders of what money can buy". Ben walked to the front door and rang the bell where a camera appeared from a part of the door "state your business" Ben saw a small microphone portruding from the wall "I'm Timothy's tutor" the camera looked Ben up and down and retracted, a couple of seconds later the doors opened and Ben walked inside confused out of his mind.

Ben made it to the study and opened the door to see Grayson reading a history textbook "wow, never thought I'd see the day where you decided to study" Grayson scoffed "I don't want to get kicked out" Ben responded "then come back to class, once people see that you've mellowed out-" Grayson interrupted him "mellowed out?" Ben nodded "yeah, I don't know if you noticed but you're no longer the asshole you were before you left, I think you can genuinely get people to like you now" Grayson rolled his eyes "let's just get this done" Ben and Grayson began studying, Ben was surprised at how well Grayson was taking to the lessons and how much he had improved.

Two hours had passed and Ben's stomach suddenly growled "shouldn't have skipped out on breakfast" Grayson made multiple tsk sounds "even I know not to skip breakfast, come on" Grayson got up and walked out of the study with Ben following. Ben found himself following Grayson into the kitchen with Grayson going to the fridge and cabinets and picking out ingredients, he pulled out a ribeye steak, seasonings, and herbs. He also pulled out broccolini, fondant potatoes, caviar, and creme freche. Grayson opened a compartment and pulled out some wild mushrooms, he walked over to a wine rack and pulled off a red wine, Grayson took all of the ingredients and put on the countertop and began cooking. Ben watched Grayson cook, the efficiency at which he cooked was impressive, before Ben knew it Grayson was done and an hour had passed. Grayson put a plate of food infront of Ben "woah" Ben exclaimed when he saw it, the steak was rare and perfectly cooked, the potatoes were roasted and baked and topped with creme freche and caviar, the broccolini was roasted with butter and garlic. Grayson put a sauce on the side of the plate and cut some truffles on the side of the plate aswell, Ben took one bite and was floored with how delicious it was, the meat was cooked and seasoned perfectly, the sauce was amazing as was the broccolini and potatoes. Ben closed his eyes when he took another bite "is it good?" Grayson asked with Ben opening his eyes and turned to Grayson giving a slow reaffirming nod. Ben finished and looked at his phone "oh shiitake mushrooms!" Ben exclaimed with Grayson, who was cleaning up to say "I would never add shiitake mushrooms to that dish" Ben packed his bag "I gotta go, I need to help Nadia and Arnold with their film project" Grayson nodded "I'm coming with you" Ben looked at Grayson "what?" Grayson grabbed his bag "I need to get out of the house" Grayson said as he walked toward the door "Jeffords, bring the car around".

Ben and Grayson arrived at Central Park, Ben looked around and saw Nadia and Arnold setting up. Ben and Grayson walked over to them "hey guys, hope we didn't keep you waiting" Nadia looked up and smiled "we weren't waiting that long at all" Arnold interjected "that is not what you said fifteen minutes ago where you voiced your frustrations on Benjamin being absent" Nadia loweree her head "wait, what did you mean by 'we'?" Nadia looked behind Ben to see Grayson "G-Grayson?!" Arnold shot up and looked at Grayson with a stern face. Ben began to think to himself "in hindsight, probably not a good idea to bring the wolf to the sheep herd". Ben began to help them film while Grayson watched, Ben looked back at Grayson and noticed Grayson pull out his phone and take a picture of the bank across the street "great" Ben whispered, he turned to Nadia and Arnold "I finished setting up the tripod, I'm gonna take a bathroom break, maybe get some lunch". Ben walked towards a convenience store and saw Grayson duck into an alley "working on a Saturday eh Timothy?" Ben looked at his phone and was about to contact Sophia when he noticed Skiz, Johnny and Marty come out of a car and walk toward the bank "this may be too big for her..." Ben said to himself, Prowwl came out of his jacket "you don't want to risk it Ben" Ben thought for a second before saying "Prowwl, Let's Hunt!" Prowwl protested but was sucked in and Ben transformed.

Grayson met with his crew in the alley "okay boys, hate to take your weekend away but, we need some emergency funding, Plagg! Claws Out!" Grayson transformed as did the others and made their way to the back of the building "Skorp, you cause a ruckus out there, we'll grab the cash from the back" Skorpoxus nodded and proceeded to the street. Beowulf watched from the top of a building and sighed before putting his Miraculous to his mouth and contacting Sophia "Sophia, I'm gonna need your help at Central Park" Sophia responded "alright, on my way" Beowulf watched as Cat Noir disintegrated the bank wall and snuck in "time to go to work" Beowulf lept down and confronted them "hey boys, I don't think you have the credit to make this kind of withdrawal" Cat Noir pointed at Beowulf "take care of him" Polar and Wallop walked over to Beowulf "long time no see boys, how 'bout we catch up over a nice prison dinner when I put you back in" Wallop and Polar looked at eachother and Polar aimed, Beowulf spin kicked his gun as he fired and hit Wallop sticking him to a wall. Beowulf lokked at Polar who was befuddled, Beowulf gut punched Polar crumpling him, Beowulf then flip kicked Polar and sent him through a wall. Cat Noir sighed "gotta do everything myself" his staff extended and he rushed at Beowulf.

Cat Noir struck Beowulf making him fly out of the bank and into a wall. Beowulf emerged from the wall and Cat Noir was waiting, Beowulf dashed forward and slashed at Cat Noir, Cat Noir parried his strikes and countered with a kick to the abdomen that made Beowulf slide backward. Beowulf felt his anger begin to rise "already?" Beowulf whispered, Cat Noir was perplexed "what are you whispering about?" Beowulf didn't respond and rushed Cat Noir, Cat Noir held his ground against the barrage of attacks, Beowulf overhand slashed Cat Noir's staff causing him to lower it, Beowulf grabbed his staff keeping it down and threw a kick into Cat Noir's head throwing him headfirst into the ground. Cat Noir was pinned under Beowulf's foot "easy Timothy, we don't have to fight" Cat Noir exhaled through his teeth and yelled "don't call me Timothy! Cataclysm!" Cat Noir swiped at Beowulf but Beowulf jumped out of the way. Beowulf landed but was cracked by Wallop who was finally freed, Beowulf tumbled along the ground but caught himself, Polar joined Cat Noir and Wallop with Cat Noir laughing "cornered like a rat".

Beowulf cracked his neck and created three clones "now it's fair" Beowulf and his clones engaged the three villains, Polar swipes at one of them but he jumped over it and kicked Polar in the side of the head. Wallop weaved claw swipes and retaliated with multiple jabs, Beowulf snuck back to the street to check on Sophia, when he got to the street he was almoat hit by a flying car "whoa!" Beowulf looked to see Skorpoxus and Arachna locked in combat "oh boy, better go help" Beowulf ran over and Arachna landed next to him "hey, how's it going?" Arachna leered at Beowulf "right...not in the joking mood" Arachna leaped into the air and attacked Skorpoxus "okay, gotta let arachnids have it out I guess. Meawhile Beowulf's clones were still fighting in the alleyway, Cat Noir managed to get behind one of the clones and hooked its elbows on his staff, Cat Noir extended his staff so that it nearly touched either side of the alley. Cat Noir yanked his staff throwing all three clones into the air "Cataclysm!" Cat Noir slashed and a wave of black energy flew out of his hand disintegrating all three clones.

Beowulf sensed that his clones had been defeated "oh boy, hey Itsy Bitsy, we got company!" Arachna responded "don't call me that! And I'm kinda busy over here!" Beowulf sighed "okay boys, let's-" he was suddenly blindsided by a blast of ice that completely covered his body and immobolized him. Arachna got distracted by this and was stung by Skorpoxus paralyzing her "Dammit!" Beowulf shouted while trying to break free, Cat Noir sauntered over to Beowulf "I'm not like my dad, I take care of problems face-to-face" Cat Noir walked over to Arachna and took off her Miraculous "oh...didn't expect that, Sophia Briggar, now who would trust you with a Miraculous? Ooooooh" Cat Noir's tone changed to that of anger "y'know Ben, I really thought you were trying to help me, to be my friend, but now I know, you just wanted to spy on me!" Cat Noir activated Cataclysm and touched Sophia's shoulder, Beowulf could only sit there and watch as he saw her break apart into dust" NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Beowulf screamed as he struggled to break out "now...your turn, and then all my problems besides my father will be over" Beowulf felt the blood in his body begin to boil and his eye mask begin to flush with red "RAAGH!" Beowulf roared before busting out of the ice. Beowulf leaped at Cat Noir slashing down, Cat Noir raised his staff to block but it was knocked out of his hand "Cataclysm!" Cat Noir thrusted his hand forward but Beowulf grabbed it at the wrist and stabbed the arm through the elbow pinning it "AAHHH!" Cat Noir howled in pain, Beowulf reeled back and stabbed him in the stomach.

Beowulf pulled his blades out of Cat Noir who slumped to the ground, Beowulf turned his attention toward Polar and Wallop and leaped at them claws bared. Ben opened his eyes, his breathing was heavy and his heart was racing, Ben looked around to see that he was in his room. Ben sat up and put his head in his hands "what's wrong with me?" Sturnn and Prowwl appeared "Ben, are you alright?" Prowwl asked with Ben rubbing his eyes and responding "y-yeah, I'm fine I just-" suddenly his phone rang, Ben picked it up to see Timothy's name on the Caller ID.


	24. The Bridge

Ben sat in his bed watching his phone ring, the ringing was deafening, Be felt the weight of what was behind this call, Ben closed his eyes and let it go to voicemail. Ben heard Grayson's voice "hey, I need to cancel the lesson today...some stuff came up and it needs my attention, I'll do extra cram work before our next appointment". The voicemail ended and Ben sighed before lying back down, he lifted his hand and looked at his Miraculous, it shined in the sunlight that snaked its way into his room "I'm lost, my powers are out of wack, I go into frenzies, it's like I'm fighting my own Miraculous and I'm not sure what's gonna happen next" suddenly a voice came from his balcony "really?" Ben shot up to see Adrien "oh...it' you" Ben said before slumping back onto his bed "yeesh, for someone concerned about the future you're more than content with wasting the present" Ben scoffed "I'm just tired" Adrien stood there "yeah, being a Hero isn't all it's cracked up to be, I think I developed arthritis by the time I was 25" Adrien laughed but Ben didn't reciprocate the same kind of energy. Adrien sighed and walked over to Ben's desk and put something on it "this might help with your problem" Ben sat up and Adrien was gone, Ben walked over to his desk to see a scroll Adrien left. Ben picked up the scroll and opened it, it was a map and a location written on it along with a message that said "Cleansing Pool" below the message was an arrow that pointed to the top of a mountain.

Ben typed in the coordinates into his search browser to see that it was in China, Ben let out a sigh of frustration "how am I supposed to get to China?" Ben looked at his desk again to see a Miracle Box "convenient" Ben picked up the box and opened it to see a pair of sunglasses "huh, snazzy" Ben put them on and a Kwami popped out "oh hellooooo, I am Kaalki, a pleasure to meet you" Ben responded "oh hi, I'm Ben and I guess I'm renting you for today" Kaalki scowled "oh please, renting sounds like such a peasant thing to do, you have acquired me for a short period" Ben scratched his head "I guess, what do I have to say?" Kaalki responded "just say Kaalki, Full Gallop" Ben nodded and he was about to say it but then he nearly screamed "Nadia and Arnold, I need to help them today so I can't-" just then he got a text from Nadia

_Hey Ben, Arnold and I can't film today, his parents are making him attend a quantum theory class, anyway I'm really sorry about this_

Ben sighed "I really don't have an excuse this time, do I?" Ben got dressed and packed his backpack "Kaalki, Full Gallop" Ben transformed and pulled out a horseshoe "Voyage" a portal opened up and he stepped through arriving in a small village, he looked around to make sure no one noticed him "Kaalki, Dismount" he transformed back and began to walk around the village, there were mostly rice farmers and fishermen, he also noticed there were no children, or adults, just the elderly "what is this place?" Ben pulled out the map and opened it the village is on the map, and now I need to head East, and there I'll find a bridge" Ben looked ahead to see the bridge at the end of town. Ben quickened his pace but noticed little by little the villagers were beginning to follow him, Ben made it to the bridge and turned around to confront what seemed like the whole village "this isn't good" Ben whispered, a man stepped out of the crowd and pointed at Ben's Miraculous "you...have a Miraculous" he said with Ben stuttering "y-yes" the old man lowered his head "the last one to come here did not fair so well, the path to the Cleansing Pool is difficult" Ben responded "well, that's why I have this" he pointed at his Miraculous. The old man shook his head "you cannot transform once you've crossed the bridge entrance" Ben looked at the entrance to the bridge "really?" Ben whispered, Ben's mind began to fill with doubt, the Miraculous was what kept him safe, what kept him alive. Ben shook his head and looked at the old man "what happens if I do try to transform?" The man responded "then they take you" Ben felt a chill down his spine as the man continued "they pull you down into the earth and they don't let go, they keep you there until you are one with the dirt, your Miraculous will be the only thing left" the man reached into his pocket and threw down three Miraculous "I get the point" Ben said before swallowing his fear and facing the bridge.

Ben stepped past the gate and stepped onto the bridge, with one inhale and exhale he began walking across the bridge, the bridge looked practically new, the wood was sturdy and the white and red paint that adorned it was fresh and glossy, what caught Ben's attention was the long thin piece of wood that ran straight down the middle of the bridge seemingly from end to end. Ben continued walking but stopped when he noticed a Rat sitting in the middle of the bridge "huh, not what I expected" the Rat looked at him and spoke "aaaahhh, so another has come seeking the pool" Ben felt his whole world collapse "a talking Rat, I was woefully unprepared for today" the Rat continued "well, things are going to get more interesting from here on out, I am the Guardian of the Bridge, in order to cross, you must get past me" Ben leaned back "I should say this will be easy but I'm sensing a catch" the Rat shrugged no catch, just keep on that line" Ben looked down "okay, easy enough" Ben began to follow the line and the Rat began to back up "very good, you're a natural, oh but I'm afraid I'm a bit of a fibber" Ben looked at the rodent and whimpered "oh boy" the Rat then snickered and jumped high into the air, so high that Ben couldn't even see it. The Rat then landed at the end of the bridge hitting it and causing almost all of the bridge to collapse aside from the long thin piece of wood in the middle.

Ben began to lose balance from the shock, his foot slipped but he caught himself on the plank before falling, the Rat began to taunt "I wouldn't hang there if I were you, the people who live in the river can be unfriendly" Ben looked down to see human faces about to surface from the wate. Ben immediately climbed back up and stood on the wooden piece "whoa" he said to himself as he tried to find his balance "okay...I got this" Ben began to walk along the piece keeping his arms outstretched to keep him balanced. The Rat nodded "you're doing great...but this is fairly boring, how about we make this more interesting" the Rat stomped the ground and a pebble shot out from the ground, the Rat flicked the pebble with its tail and hit Ben right in the forehead, Ben stumbled back but kept his balance. Ben pressed on and the Rat smirked before launching another pebble, Ben saw it coming and caught it in midair, the Rat clapped its hands "impressive, but how about we kick it up a notch" the Rat slapped the ground with it's tail and multiple pebble flew up, it began to barrage pebbles at Ben, Ben managed to catch a few before one struck him in the knuckle causing him to turn and fall, he caught himself on the wood and and looked down to see the ghostly inhabitants of the river grabbing at him, Ben immediately got to picking himself up, he looked between his legs to see the Rat launch another pebble at him, Ben jumped up to avoid the pebble and grabbed onto the wood only to swing underneath it barely avoiding the grasping hands.

Ben swung all the way back to rightside up and began to move faster toward the Rat who hastened the barrage of rocks, Ben began catching the small rocks and pebbles throwing them aside by the handful, his focus was solely on the end of the bridge and the Rat. The Rat became frustrated and axe kicked the ground causing a massive rock to shoot up from the ground, the Rat was about to strike it but its tail was grabbed by Ben who had made it all the way across. "I guess I passed" Ben said before lifting the Rat into the air, the Rat began to struggle "alright alright, you may pass" Ben put the Rat down and it brushed itself off "I warn you though, your next challenge will blindside you" the Rat then scurried off into the brush and left Ben standing there perplexed. Ben looked to his left to see a winding road leading up the mountain, Ben steeled himself and headed up the road ready for whatever came next.


	25. Trials

Ben continued following the road up the mountain, each wrap around the mountain brought its own energy of uncertainty, Ben didn't know what was coming but he was ready. Ben suddenly ran into a massive wall of smooth, solid rock "woah, now how am I supposed to get around this?" Ben looked around but saw no other path or any kind of tunnel. Ben's attention wss caught by a bleat coming from the top of the wall, Ben looked up to see a group of goat at the top of the wall "oh, hi, I'm guessing you guys can talk like the rat" the goats just stared at him and then ran toward the edge, the goats hopped off which mortified Ben. Ben looked at the side of the mountain expecting to see plummeting goats but what he saw amazed him, the goats were standing on small crags barely protruding from the side of the mountain, he looked down to see a sea of clouds "oh...I see what I need to do" Ben breathed through his nose and out of his mouth, he hopped about psyching him out "okay, okay, totally not gonna plummet to my death" Ben approached the side and saw some small gapss, Ben grabbed onto the crag and lifted himself onto it while placing his foot on one of the lower crimps "okay, hard part's done" Ben began to work his way across the wall.

Ben watched the other goats making their way across "they make this look easy" suddenly one of the goats slipped and fell off, Ben and the other goats watched as the goat fell, Ben watched as a massive reptilian head broke through the clouds below, its azure colored scales cut through the air and it's jaw opened up and it exhaled, its breath caused Ben's shirt to nearly lift off of his body. The goat fell right into the monster's mouth and it closed it before submerging back into the sea of clouds "WHAT?!" Ben blurted out before calming himself "okay, so that's a little worse than falling" Ben began to work his way across to the other side "oh man, this is harder than I thought" Ben inched along the wall as slowly as he could making sure he has a solid grip on each chip. Ben got about halfway through when he heard an ungodly loud roar coming from below him, Ben looked down and the monster erupted from the clouds and flew right up to Ben. Ben closed his eyes, too afraid to look but he could feel the hot breath of the monster on his back, it felt like a stream of air straight from the earth's core, Ben found it in himself to look back to see the monster's eye meeting his. The shock almost caused Ben to fall but he kept his grip and looked at the monster "y-you're a dragon!" The Dragon didn't respond in any way, it turned its head and opened its mouth and a funnel of fire erupted from its mouth and hit the starting area of the climb. The Dragon looked at Ben and seemed to smirk before diving back into the clouds.

Ben saw the fire beginning to crawl towards him, it was green and purple and seemed to claw its way across the wall "that must be my time limit" Ben began to pick up the pace and foregoing closer footholds in favor of farther ones. Ben kept going, he was nearly there but when his foot hit one of the gaps he misjudged the distance and his foot went straight down, Ben kept his grip but now he was trying to lift himself as the wall of flame approached. Ben lifted and the chip under his other foot broke and he only had his arms holding him up, Ben lifted with all his strength and managed to get up. Ben put his foot on one of the chips and secured himself, Ben suddenly felt an overwhelming warmth followed by a burning sensation on his left hand. Ben rushed and got to the other side swinging himself and landing on the other side tumbling and sprawling on the floor, Ben looked at his hand to see a large burn mark on his hand. Ben got up and held his hand while continuing on, he felt his anger begin to rise as he muttered his frustrations to himself, Prowwl and Sturnn emerged out of his jacket pocket "Ben, are you hurt?" Prowwl asked, Ben glared at the Kwami and snapped at him while showing him his hand "what does it look like?!" Prowwl backed off and Sturnn flew over confronting Ben "hey! What's gotten into you?" Ben bucked at Sturnn "I'm on this stupid ass journey that's supposed to teach me something when in reality, it's gotten me pelted with rocks, almost having my soul sucked out by river demons, and having ass barbequed! I've learned nothing so far, other than that the traditions of the past were meant to kill dumb people like me who fall for this crap!" Ben picked up a rock and threw it off the mountain as far as he could, the rock flew so far it nearly cleared the treeline.

Ben breathed in heavily and calmed down a bit "I'm not going back the way I came, so I guess I might aswell see it through to the end" Ben continued up the mountain, no longer driven by the desire to fix his problem, but to get it over with. Ben arrived at a cave "what fresh hell awaits me here" Ben walked in and was greeted by a room completely lit up with crystals "let me guess...lasers" a voice from his side responded "nope, rest stop" Ben snapped his head to his side to see a ladybug on his shoulder "oh, weird how the goats didn't talk but you did" the ladybug responded "yeah, they're assholes, anyway, enjoy the Crystal Cave" Ben walked through the cave "so, how is this a rest stop?" Ben asked with the ladybug responded "they're supposed to have healing properties, they're just pretty though" Ben made a "hmm" sound and kept walking "this does kind of feel therapeudic, makes wanna just let it all out" the ladybug listened "I have no idea why I'm here, I thought I knew but nothing leading up to this has helped me figure it out, I feel like no matter how much I dig I can't seem to find answers or anything that could lead me to an answer" the ladybug responded "well, you have to find the answer, it isn't going to be given to you" Ben sighed "being a Miraculous Wielder will never make sense" the ladybug agreed "yup, the next person who comes through here will have a wolf as a guide" Ben sighed again "yup, that about sums it up".

Ben and the ladybug made it to the other side of the cave, Ben put his finger to his shoulder and the ladybug climbed onto it, Ben brought the little bug up to his face "thanks for listening little dude" the ladybug stood on its back legs and bowed Ben laughed and his eyes drifted to his left and he saw someone in the reflection of a crystal, he locked eyes with the person, it was a young girl around his age with black hair tied in pigtails with red hair ties "who's that?" Ben asked with the ladybug responding "that is the Miraculous Holder that came here before you" Ben responded "she's beautiful" the ladybug caught his attention "hey, Loverboy, pay attention" Ben looked at the ladybug who was pointing to his right, Ben looked and saw someone in the crystal there, it was a young boy with brown hair that draped over one side of his face, Ben smiled at him and stepped out of the cave. The ladybug hopped off his finger "I bid you adieu, I hope you find what you're looking for" Ben nodded "I hope so too".

Ben saw the ladybug fly away and kept on up the mountain, Ben noticed how close he was to the top, he could see where the path plateaued, he was so close to the top, Ben arrived at the peak where he saw a massive hole atleast a football field in length "whoa, now how am I supposed to get past this?" a voice from the other side of the hole spoke to Ben, a large figure was at the other end and they spoke to Ben...Ben couldn't hear them "WHAT?" Ben shouted with the person speaking again, only louder...Ben still couldn't make out what they were saying "WHAT?!" Ben shouted again. The figure sighed and jumped high into the air landing right infront of Ben causing the whole mountain to shake. Ben saw clearly that the person was a giant panda and a very giant one at that, the Panda spoke "your last trial is me...beat me in combat and you can pass" Ben nodded in determination...after shaking off his fear ofcourse. The Panda lept back to the other side, the Panda then struck the ground with its fist and giant stalks of bamboo erupted from the hole "okay, I see now" Ben slowly stepped onto the stalks barely keeping his balance and nearly slipping to his doom on occassion. Ben made it to about halfway when the Panda stepped onto one of the stalks "oh no" Ben whispered as the panda suddenly rushed toward Ben as if it were gliding across the stalks, Ben barely got out of the way of a claw swipe and landed clumsily on a stalk.

The Panda grabbed a stalk and pulled it out of the pit and put the middle in its mouth, with one quick snap the bamboo snapped in half, the Panda tossed Ben one side of the stalk with Ben barely able to catch it. Ben put 2 and 2 together and readied himself, the Panda twirled the staff around in its paws and beckoned Ben to attack. Ben took one step and swung at the Panda, the Panda parried it easily and jabbed Ben in the chest causing Ben to fall. Ben caught himself with his hand on one of the stalks and lifted himself back up, Ben steadied himself again and stood ready for anything. The Panda smirked and threw a swift strike which Ben deflected and countered with a jab to the head, Panda leaned back a bit and dodged it, Ben attempted to swing the momentum in his favor and continued the assault with a barrage of strikes, Panda blocked them all while stepping back, Panda swung low and Ben managed to jump over the strike and smacked the Panda in the cheek. Panda stepped back and felt its face. Panda growled at Ben and marched over, Ben felt a wave of fear wash over him as he tried to keep balance, Panda began to strike at Ben who was barely strong enough to keep himself upright while blocking. Panda threw an overhead strike which Ben blocked but his staff snapped in half, Ben nearly fell backwards and Panda took advantage of that and sweepkicked Ben taking him off his feet and shoulder checked the airborne teen.

Ben flew backwards breaking stalks as he flew, Ben grabbed a stalk and stopped his momentum while doing a number on his shoulder. Ben lifted himself back up and rotated his shoulder, he looked at his staff which was in two pieces now "oh well, was never a fan of Donatello anyway" Ben walked along the bamboo and met the Panda face to face. Ben twirled the sticks and goaded Panda into attacking with a waving fingers back, the Panda gritted its teeth and barraged at Ben who matched it in speed deflecting every strike and redirecting the stiff rigid strikes with fluid motion. Ben began to strike back at Panda, Ben kept Panda's staff down and struck Panda in the side of the head with the other. Panda roared and unleashed a large strike which Ben ducked under but Panda was too quick and it quickly recovered forcing his staff onto Ben's sticks and pushed down, Ben didn't hesitate and leaned back onto a single stalk carrying Panda's momentum and flipping the beast causing it to fall and break multiple stalks on the way down into the pit. Ben lifted himself up and caught his breath, Ben got to the other side and stepped back onto solid ground "okay...now what?" Ben walked forward and came across a giant fire bowl. Ben walked over to the bowl and looked into it, it was surprisingly clean as if it was never touched by fire before. Ben noticed something emerge from the clouds, it's azure blue scales Ben immediately recognized. The dragon landed on the side of the mountain and on the other side of the fire bowl, the Dragon inhaled and blew fire into the bowl before retreating back into the clouds.

Ben looked at the deep blue fire and had a thought, a stupid thought, but a thought nonetheless. Ben stuck his right hand into the fire, the fire didn't hurt at all "where was this when I was scaling the wall of death?" Ben noticed his Miraculous begin to glow with the heat until it was a bright and blinding blue, Ben stared into the light, the brilliance of the light kept Ben's attention, the light enveloped Ben's vision and when it cleared, Ben was in a grassy field. Ben looked around, the grass was swaying wildly in the wind and the trees around the field were dancing with it, Ben saw figures in the trees, they approached Ben and from what he could see, there were ten of them. They cleared the treeline, Ben saw that they were people from multiple different times and cultures and they all had the Wolf Miraculous on their wrist. A Native American man stepped forward approaching Ben and stopping right infront of him "Welcome, Wolf Cub". The man was tall and his head was adorned with a War Bonnet and his face was rugged yet his expression was gentle, the man put his hands on Ben's shoulders "it is good to finally meet you, we've been waiting for a long time" Ben looked behind him to see the other ones approaching "if you may not have guessed, we are all your predecessors, I am Tivaci, Hero to my people the Chemehuevi, I guided them through the harshest times in the desert" a man in Mongolian armor stepped forward, Tivaci hung his head a bit "this is Genghis Khan, he also held the Wolf Miraculous" Genghis approached "yes, I held the Miraculous, I used it to unite the tribes of Asia and form one of the largest empires in history" Tivaci responded "which you used to launch invasions along Asia" Genghis crossed his arms in spite. Another one stepped forward, this one was a well dressed man "Moriarty, archnemesis of Sherlock Holmes". A man in a suit of armor stepped up "Melion, Knight of the Round Table". The previous Miraculous Holders stepped infront of Ben. Tivaci spoke "you are our legacy, we all live in you, and one day, you will join us" Ben felt even more confused "b-but, this doesn't answer my question, why am I having these sudden outbursts of anger?" Tivaci sighed "there is much conflict in you Benjamin, while we all live within the Miraculous, we do not live in peace, some of us vie for control, but you have the ability to unite us, you must seek balance" Ben felt as if his journey had been wasted and his anger began to surface, the sky began to agitate and the winds became more fierce, what was once a strong breeze became a maelstrom of wind and debris, the sky became a red tint and the clouds darkened, the previous holders began to wonder what was going on and Tivaci reassured Ben "Ben, you must not lose control, remember your dream" Ben stopped, he remembered what happened in the dream "you already know what will happen if you go down this path" Ben calmed down "I don't know what to do" Ben said weakly "that dream scared me, like nothing ever has" Ben grabbed his forearms and fell to his knees "I don't know what to do" Tivaci and the others surrounded Ben, they put their hands out, the hand that has the Miraculous "then let us teach you" Ben remembered those words "okay...teach me balance" Ben put his right hand forward and all of them were sucked into the Miraculous.

Ben returned to reality, his Miraculous' glow faded and he looked around, he noticed that the pit was gone and the dragon stood there, it lowered its head and Ben walked over, mounting the Dragon's head and it took off taking him back to the village. Ben dismounted the Dragon and was met by the shocked faces of the villagers, Ben took out the Horse Miraculous and teleported home, Ben crashed onto his bed looking to his side at his Miraculous "you're just full of surprises".


	26. Assembly

_A Village in Africa_

A man stood infront of a glowing fire, he was in a trance as he stared into it. Suddenly someone came into his hut "Akida, it is time" Akida sighed "yes, it is time to end this, Berko will be brought to justice." Akida put out the fire and stepped out of his hut and into another one where an older man was lying in a bed hooked up to life support "father, we are finally going to get justice" Akida's father coughed and responded "be careful my son, New York is a place of noise, lights, and it never sleeps" Akida laughed and nodded "yes father I know, you told me stories about it when I was young" Akida held his father's hand "I will not fail in this, not even a Miraculous will stop me, my training will see to that" his father smiled and touched his face "then you are worthy of the mantle" his father pulled a ring off his finger "take it, use it to bring Berko back so that I may look him in they eye one last time before he is punished" Akida took the ring and put it on "I am honored father, now nothing will get in my way" his father warned him "do not let your desire for revenge cloud your judgement, there is another in New York that fights for justice" Akida nodded "The Wolf" his father continued "you will be intruding on his territory, he might see this as a challenge" Akida scoffed "then I will meet his challenge and beat him, because what is a wolf to a lion?" Akida stepped out of the hut and his team joined him, his gaze sharpened and his resolve was steeled "my father might not make it to the trial...if we must, we will take Berko's life".

_Back in New York_

The alarm of a bakery began blaring as burglars began to loot the place "c'mon you idiots, let's get out of here before-" he was cut off by someone saying "before what?" The crooks turned to see Beowulf in the window "shit he's back?!" One of the burglars said before trying to flee. Beowulf kicked up a chair and kicked it at the burglar breaking it over his body causing him to fall to the floor, one of them rushed at him with a crowbar, with one swift step Beowulf hit him with a gut punch dispatching him. The last crook jumped out of the window, Beowulf leaped out and was about the throw out his flail to catch him but was interrupted by another voice "I got this one" Arachna lept down from the rooftop and launched a leg at the criminal impaling his leg. "Oh shit!" Arachna blurted out instantly regretting what she had done. Beowulf rushed over tearing off the crook's sleeve and tying it around his leg "the police are on their way, they'll take care of this". Beowulf waited there with the man until the police arrived with an ambulence, Beowulf jumped onto the roof Arachna was on, Arachna was panicking and pacing back and forth "oh my god I'm so sorry Beowulf, I thought I would just knick him but I put too much force into it I-" Beowulf cut her off "I need the Miraculous back" Arachna looked him, her face in shock. Beowulf put his hand out "c'mon, I need it back" Arachna backed away slightly "this is just a fluke" she pleaded but Beowulf wasn't having it, he lowered his voice to a near growl "you've had a couple of flukes, property damage is at an all time high and you rough up criminals much more than needed" Arachna sighed "I want to keep being a hero" Beowulf responded "and you'll get another chance to prove you CAN be a hero, I admit you have been able to hold your own in fights against other Miraculous Wielders, but when it comes to the common criminal, you're way to zealous to cause bodily harm" Arachna sighed and said "I don't want to give it up" Beowulf stepped up, everything seemed to stop right at that moment "don't make me take it, that's the last thing I want to do" Arachna took off her Miraculous and gave it to Beowulf "thank you, you'll know of my decision" Beowulf said before putting away the Miraculous "just take me home" Sophia retorted.

The next morning Ben sat on the couch and watched the news, the reported on TV was discussing the arrival of an African Prince "today we welcome Prince Akida of the very secretive Ombawa Tribe in West Africa, the prince is here in his father's steaf, this is most likely due to him being next in line for the throne, he has come today do discuss and share in his heritage with the world so that we may know more about it" Ben finished his cereal wiping his face with his shirt "I swear I saw this in a movie once". Ben made it to school where he saw Sophia, Ben snuck up behind her and hugged her, he didn't expect it when Sophia hip tossed him to the ground. Sophia put her hands to her mouth "babe! I'm sorry but you know not to do that" Ben lied there for a bit "it's okay, I had a crick in my spine anyway and I think you fixed it" Sophia helped Ben up and kissed him "I'm so sorry Benji" Ben held her hand and they made their way to class where Mason was waiting for them "hey Mason, where's Arnie?" Sophia asked, Mason answered "his parents took him to the meeting with the Prince that came into town" Ben responded "didn't know Arnold's parents were involved in politics" Mason cracked his neck "yup, I think they had Arnold as a political maneuver, create the perfect kid to rule the world someday" Ben laughed before they all entered class and the lessons began.

Ben walked out of class, he couldn't shake this uneasiness he was feeling deep within. Ben opened his jacket and spoke with Sturnn and Prowwl "hey, I think something's gonna go down at that Summit tonight, call it a hunch but whenever something big happens in this city, chances are Miraculous are gonna get involved". Ben stopped by his apartment to get ready, Ben packed the Bat Miraculous "this fight might get intense so I'm gonna need some more firepower" Prowwl flew infront of Ben "then why don't we bring Sophia or Mason along?" Ben shook his head "we also need to be careful, this is a political matter, any kind of recklessness could trigger something that...not even I can help with". Ben strapped on his backpack and entered the kitchen where his parents were watching the Summit on TV "oh Ben! Come and sit with us!" Ben put his hands up "no thanks mom, I'm actually heading to the Summit myself, Arnold and his parents are allowing us to attend" Ben's mom clapped her hands excitedly "ooooh! Get some pictures and video for us!" Ben nodded, hearing his dad's snore made him chuckle before he went out the door.

Beowulf stood on a rooftop on the other side of the street to the Embassy, the cars and spotlights illuminated the streets while Political Figures exited cars and entered the building. Beowulf nearly fell off the roof when he saw Tremaine step out of a car accompanied by Berko and three unknown bodyguards "those must be those bug creeps from last time" Beowulf whispered to himself "looks like my hunch was right, this is gonna get ugly". The next car revealed Timothy who was unguarded, Tremaine turned around and glared at Timothy who smirked at Tremaine before pushing passed him, Tremaine reached back and grabbed Timothy by the collar but his hand was smacked away by Timothy "hands off old man, or I'll turn you into a pile of ash" Tremaine gritted his teeth and let it go while Timothy walked away. The last car arrived and Prince Akida stepped out accompanied by a man and a woman, the man was pracitcally a wall, all muscle from head to toe, the woman was quite small with red hair styled in a mohawk, once everyone was inside and the outside area had calmed down, Beowulf stepped back and ran forward taking a huge leap and landing square on the roof of the Embassy. Beowulf looked inside, the Meeting Area was similar to a movie theatre in layout only smaller.

_2 Hours Later_

Beowulf lied on the roof bored out of his mind "maybe I was wrong, maybe nothing is gonna happen, now that I think about it, no one would make a move at an event this big".

_Meanwhile within the Embassy_

Berko looked around, he was visibly nervous, Tremaine noticed this "Berko, if there's something that's bothering you, you'd better spit it out" Berko whispered back to Tremaine "Prince Akida is here, and I know he's after me" Tremaine retorted "then why did you come?" Berko responded "because I have protection under you" Tremaine patted him on the shoulder "then there's nothing to be scared of". Berko looked back at the rows behind him to see Akida staring at him, the Prince snapped the pencil he was holding and that made Berko's eyes shoot forward "Mr. Grayson, I must excuse myself, I need to go to the bathroom" Tremaine shook his head "that's not a good idea Berko, the safest place is right next to me" Berko got and made his way down the stairs and toward the hallway. Akida kept his eyes on Berko but was distracted by a call he was getting on his earpiece, Akida touched it and whispered "what is it? No...understood". Akida looked at his female bodyguard and nodded, she responded with a nod before unsheating a dagger and approached Berko who had gotten up and began walking not noticing he was directly in the path of her. The bodyguard rushed forward, Berko had no time to react, she thrusted the dagger forward but her wrist was caught by Tremaine "heard your boss has a quarrel wit one of my guys" she attempted to pull her wrist from his grasp but he was too strong, she then smirked and nodded in the direction behind Tremaine, the large man came up from behind and put Berko in a headlock. Tremaine saw this and quickly punched the woman knocking her down before he rushed and punched the man causing him to let go of Berko and stumble backwards.

_Back on the Rooftop_

Prowwl saw this and yelled for Beowulf "something's happening!" Beowulf sprang up and looked inside "finally..." Beowulf made his way down. Tremaine wrestled with the large man while the woman ran into the hallway, meanwhile, Tremaine's security detail slipped away as did Timothy. Beowulf noticed the Prince was gone aswell, right as he noticed that a costumed individual rushed out of the hallway knocking Tremaine back. Beowulf grabbed onto the head of the window and swung back, he swung forward and went through the window landing square inbetween Tremaine and the Miraculous Wielder "sorry, but I'm crashing this party". Beowulf looked at the person, she was clad in a dark brown leotard with a spotted pattern, her mohawk was wild and spiky and it ran all the way down her back connected to her costume, she had an eyemask, a sash was draped across her chest and athletic tape covered her arms all the way up to the elbow. Beowulf looked back at Tremaine who had judt recovered "what do you want with Tremaine?" Beowulf asked with the Hyena cackling "we are not here for him, we're here for Berko, our elusive snake in the grass" Beowulf raised an eyebrow "so you plan on murdering Berko at a Political Event and think I, or anyone else would allow it?" A voice from above interjected "you do not have the authority to allow anything Wolf" Beowulf looked up to see a man on the railing who jumped down accompanying the Hyena "my name is Kion, and this is Shenzi, and we will have Berko's head by the end of this" Beowulf tightened his fist, this fight was inevitable.


	27. Royal Rumble

Beowulf and Kion stared eachother down, neither of them moving, Kion's costume looked like body armor, smooth yet sturdy pads covered his chest and abdomen, the ends of his shinguards and armguards were shaped like lion's paws and his facemask was covered his eyes, chin and the sides of his face, the crowd began to evacuate. Once everyone was gone Kion and Beowulf rushed at eachother locking grip, the force of their impact cracked the ground beneath them, Shenzi took this opportunity and pounced at Berko who covered himself with his hands in defense, Shenzi was suddenly knocked away by someone, it was Centistryke, Kabuto and Despant landed surrounding Shenzi, Kabuto giggled reeling his fist back before someone hit him in the back launching him up into the ceiling and through the roof. Beowulf looked to see an armored man standing there, his armor was grey and covered his whole body except his biceps, his head was covered in a helmet that resembled a Rhino and had a visor that covered his eyes.

Beowulf looked back at Kion "who's that?" Kion responded "that's Faru, and this is the otherside of the hallway" Beowulf was confused by the statement until Kion lifted Beowulf and threw him down the hallway. Beowulf caught himself by digging his claws into the carpet and rushed back right hooking Kion sending him flying, Kion planted his feet to stop from flying too far "Shenzi, Faru, take care of them, I'll handle the interjector" Kion sprang forward tackling Beowulf. Beowulf and Kion smashed through a wall and into thr foyer, Beowulf circle threw Kion and stood quickly to barely catch a jab thrown by Kion. Beowulf blocked a hook moving in with the same motion and gut punched Kion then hooking him, Kion withstood and hit Beowulf with a haymaker making him stumble, Kion then hit Beowulf with a straight launching him into the stairs. Beowulf emerged from the rubble, Beowulf looked up to see Kion about to land on him, Beowulf moved his head and avoided the punch while falling back, Kion began to rapid punch Beowulf while Beowulf blocked most of them. Kion reeled back and swung but Beowulf slipped passed the punch and responded with a hook of his own, Kion stumbled and Beowulf hooked his foot behind Kion's heel making him trip, Beowulf then punched Kion in the stomach smashing him into the ground, Kion lied in the small crater Beowulf made, Beowulf reeled his fist back and hit Kion through a wall and into a car which exploded on impact "yikes, might've put too much into that one" Kion erupted from the wreckage and rushed at Beowulf.

Tremaine kept Berk behind him while the others fought. Shenzi was on top of Kabuto trying to take him down while Centistryke and Despant struggled to find a way to harm Faru "Centi, this guy won't budge" Despant said before Faru grabbed her by the head and slammed her into the ground. Centistryke leaped forward and his claws bounced off of Faru's armor, Faru then grabbed Centistryke by the ankle and slammed them both together before tossing them aside. Faru turned his attention to Kabuto and charged at him, Kabuto braced and managed to hold off Faru's charge for a bit before he let him go causing him to charge headfirst into a wall. Faru came back but was ambushed by Despant and Centistryke, Despant struck a certain area and it seemed to have caused Faru pain "the chinks in his armor, of course" Centistryke and Despant began chippingaway at Faru who was too slow to catch them again. Faru roared and slammed the ground causing it to crack and rupture maiing everyone else lose their balance, Faru charged knocking Centistryke away. Despant seized the opportunity "Queen Pheramone!" She shouted before stabbing Faru in the side, Faru yelled and grabbed his head in pain and keeled over. Shenzi rushed over to him but she stopped when he rose, his visor bow tinted an ominous pink color, Despant laughed and pointed her rapier at Shenzi "Your Queen Commands you to squashe this one" Faru nodded and attacked Shenzi.

Tremaine began to escort Berko out when someone landed infront of them "oh great...it's you" Tremaine said acknowledging Panther who was standing there, his staff resting in his shoulders, the two ends glowed with green energy "hey Tremaine, I'll take Berko to safety if you don't mind" Tremaine gritted his teeth "what game are you playing at boy?" Panther laughed "just gonna convince him that I'd be a way better employer than you" Panther rushed striking Centistryke and Kabuto away, Panther and Despant dueled but it was shortlived when Panther trip kicked her and smacked her away. Panther twirled his staff "see?" Panther then hit Tremaine away "Berko, come with me and we can escape, you can work for me and get double the pay" Berko spat on the ground "my loyalty cannot be won so easily" Berko reached for his Miraculous but it wasn't there "wha-" Panther smiled "looking for this?" He asked before pulling out Berko's Miraculous "swiped it on my way in, you want it? Join forces with me" Berko reached out but was interrupted when a boomerang flew in and hit the Miraculous out of Panther's hand.

Panther looked over to see Shenzi smirking but it was shortlived when Faru attacked her again. Beowulf suddenly busted through a wall back into the auditorium, Beowulf recovered when Kion jumped at him, they both reeled back and their fists clashed causing a shockwave to shake the building. Beowulf and Kion battled fiercely striking eachother matching blow for blow, Kion noticed Berko, he gritted his teeth and kicked Beowulf back. Kion jumped at Berko but was intercepted by Panther, Panther maneuvered his staff between Kion's strikes, Panther then segmented his staff into eskrima striking Kion multiple times before sending him flying with one big strike. Beowulf met up with Panther "what are you doing here?" Beowulf asked with Panther sighing "I'm here to scout out a Speedster" Beowuld sighed "oh boy, is there anyone here that's not after Berko?" Panther laughed before hitting Beowulf away "sorry, but I gotta have this go smoothly, and you'll be in the way" Beowulf got back up and surveyed the chaos around him "I gotta get more firepower" Beowulf felt hid costume "shit, I forgot my backpack on the roof...gotta improvise" Beowulf noticed Faru's rampage "this guy's gonna bring the whole building down if he isn't stopped" he whispered.

Faru had Shenzi on the ground and wad about to crush her when he heard a voice "Hey, Big Man!" Faru turned to see Beowulf running toward him "Wolfsbane!" Beowulf roared before punching Faru in the stomach, the impact smashed Faru's armor shattering the spot Beowulf punched to pieces. Beowulf pulled an orb out of him "Devour the Power!" Beowulf consumed the orb and his costume suddenly sprouted armor around his body, his head became encased in a helmet with a visor for him to see through, the helmet was in the shape of a wolf's head with a horn at the top front of it. Kion confronted Tremaine knocking him out of the way and cornering Berko, Kion raised his clawed gauntlets but was blindsided by a right hook from Beowulf sending him flying into a wall. Beowulf turned to see Panther fighting the Insects, the Insects all jumped at Panther but were all knocked away by a single dropkick from Beowulf, the impact almost made Pather lose his balance, the hit sent them careening into the stairs. Kion emerged from the rubble, his anger got the better of him and he rushed back in, tackling Beowulf he attempted to take him down, Beowulf raised his arms and smashed Kion into the ground with both of his fist. Beowulf grabbed Kion by the collar and lifted him up, Kion was limp "looks like he's taken care of" just as Beowulf said that Kion sprang back to life and thrusted both of his feet into Beowulf's helmet causing him to let go. Beowulf wasn't able to recover and Kion circled around Beowulf, Kion grabbed Beowulf by the waist with his arms and lifted him suplexing him into the ground causing it to shatter beneath him.

Kion maneuvered out from under Beowulf grabbing his ankles as he began to spin lifting Beowulf off the ground, Kion kept spinning and finally let go sending Beowulf right through a wall and across the street. "ow, this guy is a different breed, he's trained, he hasn't even popped his Miraculous and I'm already down to three minutes". Beowulf charged back in to see Tremaine fighting Kion "as much as I hate to say it, I'm gonna have to save him...ewww, saying that just made my skin crawl" Beowulf was surprised to see Tremaine block one of Kion's punches and counter with a punch of his own that made Kion stumble "he is one tough bastard" Beowulf whispered before cracking his knuckles, ready to jump back in. Beowulf ran forward but was tackled by Kabuto "oh come on" Beowulf whispered before grabbing Kabuto by the waist and tossing him away "alright, now it's time to-" Beowulf was stopped short by his Miraculous beginning to beep "three minutes left, gotta make it count" Beowulf looked at Kion and Tremaine, Kion had Tremaine cornered "gotta separate them somehow" Beowulf felt a lightbulb go off in his head "hey!" Beowulf shouted catching everyone's attention "mind if I cut in?!" Beowulf jumped forward and punched the ground causing a shockwave to rip through the ground and blow Tremaine and Kion back "okay, time to take on one at a time" Beowulf rushed headfirst into Kion knocking him to the floor.

Kion felt his head and Beowulf turned his attention to Tremaine "I owe you one kid" Tremaine said which made Beowulf's skin crawl "you can pay me back by turing yourself in" Tremaine chuckled "never change kid" Tremaine and Duma ran out of the building "No!" Kion roared attempting to chase after them. Beowulf grabbed Kion by the collar, Kion glared at Beowulf, Beowulf kept his hold but Kion ducked down and sweep kicked Beowulf causing him to fall, Kion grabbed Beowulf by the ankle and swung him tossing him into Panther and right through a wall. Beowulf and Panther recovered "looks like this fight is going public" Beowulf said with Panther nodding. Beowulf was blindsided by a strike to the head by Panther which sent him to the ground "that...was for stopping us at the bank" Beowulf felt his heart drop "wait...that happened?" Beowulf whispered while Panther noticed something on the ground "huh, what's this?" Panther picked up a Miraculous box "looks like someone dropped something" Panther put the box in his pocket and ran out. Beowulf got up "I thought I forgot the Miraculous box in the roof" Prowwl slowly floated up "I'm sorry Ben, I snuck it into your pocket while you were fighting, I was going to tell you about it but-" Beowulf felt his helmet "you meant well so I can't be mad at you, we just need to take it back...let's power down somewhere private and get back out there.

_Meanwhile outside across from the Embassy_

Panther rushed at Kion striking him multiple times with his staff before sending Kion flying with a swift kick to the midsection. Kion recovered and summoned a spear from his Miraculous, Kion and Panther dueled fiercely as Shenzi tried to fight Kabuto, Despant, and Centistryke. The three ganged up on Shenzi and pinned her, Despant raised her rapier, Despant thrusted but was struck by a flying kick from Beowulf. Beowulf landed and turned to the other two "while I'm not keen on helping enemies, I'm also not fond of unfair fights. Beowulf moved too fast to see and punched Centistryke in the cheek flooring him, Shenzi got up and pounced on Kabuto slashing at his face, she bent back putting her hands on the floor and lifted throwing him with her legs, Shenzi and Beowulf backed up into eachother "I did not need your help" Shenzi said with Beowulf responding "yeah, but I still don't like unfair fights" Shenzi looked down "thank you" Beowulf blocked an incoming strike from Centi and punched him away "think nothing of it, you guys are good guys afterall" Shenzi looked back at Beowulf and smiled. Beowulf and Shenzi continued to fight "so, if you know we are good, then why are you trying to stop us?" Shenzi questioned with Beowulf responding "because, I can tell your leader is planning to do some harm to Duma over there, and I can't have that" Shenzi responded "we are here for justice" Beowulf interrupted you're here for revenge" Shenzi didn't respond "I'll bring Duma to justice, eventually" Beowulf said with Shenzi retorting "this is more than just locking him away, he must be punished!" Beowulf punched Centistryke in the gut and then kicked him away "look, I can't let you kill him, I wouldn't live it down, you may have your code, but I have mine and I won't break it, not for anyone" Shenzi paused for a bit "I will talk to Kion, maybe we don't need to kill him" Beowulf looked at her "thank you...watch out!" Beowulf pushed Shenzi out of the way and was slashed by Despant's rapier, Shenzi jumped up and delivered a flying knee to Despant's face.

Kion spin kicked Tremaine away and had Duma cornered, Kion punched Duma knocking him to the ground "my father will be avenged" Kion said before lifting up his foot, Beowulf rushed over putting Kion in a full nelson and pulling him back "what are you doing?!" Kion shouted as Beowulf backed up "sorry, can't have you killing people on my turf, people might talk" Kion reached back grabbing Beowulf by the costume and slammed him on the ground "ow" Beowulf uttered weakly. Kion kicked Beowulf in the side launching him away "I am sick of these distractions, I'm running out of time!" Kion shouted as he rushed at Duma. Kion was then struck by a metal staff causing him to stumble, his head was spinning from the blow and his vision became blurry. Panther sauntered over picking up his staff "hey Duma, if I save your life, you gonna come work for me?" Duma nodded "y-yes, anyone who saves me will have me in their debt, you have my word!" Kion felt his senses return and he shouted at the top of his lungs "YOUR WORD! What good is your word?! You gave it to my father and you betrayed him! Now he's on his deathbed because of you!" Kion pulled out his spear "Die Traitor!" Suddenly a boomerang struck Kion in the hand causing him to drop his spear "Ah! Shenzi? You dare betray me?" Shenzi caught the boomerang "Sir, I do not betray you, I serve your father, and that means I have to make decisions for your benefit, even if that means I must stop you from making bad choices, if we capture Duma he can stand trial" Kion looked at her "No! My father has no more time, no time for trials! Only Justice!" Kion grabbed his spear but was blindsided by a right hook from Beowulf that sent him sliding.

Duma helped Tremaine to his feet "I called for da car" Tremaine said right before a limousine pulled up and the doors opened, Duma helped Tremaine inside and he was about to crawl in aswell but Tremaine pushed him out "your loyalty can be won over just like dat?" Tremaine asked with Duma begging "please Sir, I did not mean it, you have done more for me than I could ever ask for, but please don't leave me here!" Tremaine thought about it and shrugged "fine, but you only get this one warning" Duma smiled and quickly crawled into the car and they took off followed by the battered Insects "No!" Kion shouted before punching the ground causing the area to shake "he got away, all because of you two!" Kion pointed at Beowulf and Panther "oh boy, looks like we pissed him off" Beowulf whispered before getting punched in the face by Kion sending him careening into a tree. Panther looked at Kion and backed up a bit, Kion turned his attention to Panther and rushed, Kion punched Panther in the stomach lifting him off the ground and then left hooking him away. Panther recovered and quickly re-engaged striking Kion with a barrage of staff strikes,the strikes seemed to have powered up Kion as he started to glow with bright yellow energy "the more I fight, the stronger I become!" Kion roared and sent Panther back "so the more I hit this guy, the harder he'll hit me back" Beowulf jumped in and blindsided Kion with a right hook that barely made him flinch.

Kion turned to look at Beowulf and gave him a crippling knee to the gut, Kion put both of his hands together and double axe-handled Beowulf in the back of the head smashing his head into the ground, Beowulf barely held onto conciousness as blood leaked from the top of forehead, despite the concussion Beowulf could feel his anger boiling up to the surface while Kion put his foot on his head "I knew you would be no match for me" Kion said before spitting on Beowulf's head, that was the last straw, Beowulf's eyes turned red and he roared at the top of his lungs before pushing Kion off. Kion threw a right hook but it was slipped by Beowulf who then delivered a devastating gut punch to Kion. Kion was lifted off the ground and spat up from the blow, Kion dropped to his knees and threw up with Shenzi attempting to intervene but was stopped by Panther "oh no, that is between them" Shenzi pounced but Panther slipped past her striking her in the back of the head knocking her out "I should probably get out of here too" Panther whispered before propelling himself with his staff and escaping. Beowulf grabbed Kion by the hair and lifted him, Beowulf reeled back and punched him sending him straight into yhe ground. Beowulf put his foot up to stomp but Kion rolled away before he could be crushed, Kion rushed and left hooked Beowulf but Beowulf retaliated with a left hook of his own, Beowulf and Kion traded blows neither of them giving an inch. Kion attempted to grab Beowulf but his wrists were caught in Beowulf's grip, Beowulf squeezed with an audible cracking sound beung heard from Kion's wrists. Beowulf leaned back and headbutted Kion, Kion stumbled back, clearly dazed and was met with an overhand right that sent him to the floor. Beowulf clenched his fist and without saying it, activated Wolfsbane, Beowulf was ready to end this but he stopped for some reason, his eyes returned to normal and he rubbed his forehead "that should be enough" Beowulf said before he noticed Shenzi waking up "take him, this fight is over" Shenzi prepared her boomerang "so you're just going to walk away after winning?!" Bewulf walked away and said "I didn't win this fight, no one did, besides Tremaine".

Ben snuck back home through the window bandaging himself up in the bathroom before sneaking back out and going to front door, Ben unlocked it and nearly collapsed in the doorway, the damage from the fight was finally getting to him "I pushed myself hard today, I need to talk to Adrien tomorrow" Ben crashed on the couch but didn't fall asleep for another hour. Ben woke up with a splitting headache "ouch, feels like I slept with a weight on my head, okay, first a shower, then to Adrien's" before he could get up his father walked in, his voice was stern "Benjamin, where were you last night?" Ben responded "I was going to the summit," his dad interrupted him "we contacted Arnold's parents, they never invited you, so let me ask again. Where. Were. You?" Ben sighed, he began to think quickly "_he probably contacted Sophia and Mason's parents, have to think of something fast" _Ben finally responded "okay, truth is, I was going to go to Sophia's place but I got jumped by some guys, after that I came back home and bandaged myself up and crashed on the couch" Ben looked his dad in the eye "okay, as long as you told the truth, we'll call the authorities and report it, good thing you didn't go to the Summit, Beowulf was there to stop an assassination, really nasty fight there". Ben showered and dressed "alright, to Adrien's then we get some lunch". Ben made it to Adrien's shop where he noticed the sign above to door "huh, named it Black Cat Jewelry, on the nose a bit huh Adrien?" Ben walked in to see Adrien cleaning the counters "oh, hey Ben, what brings you in?" Ben put his head down "I lost a Miraculous" Ben said with Adrien sighing "oh man, which one was it?" Ben responded "the Bat Miraculous" Adrien threw the rag down "dammit! How could you let this happen?!" Ben responded "look, we have more pressing matters okay? Time is becoming fluxed!" Adrien looked at him "what do you mean?" Ben began explaining "last night, during that whole thing, Panther referenced a fight that never happened for me, I saw it in a dream instead of it happening" Adrien paced back and forth "how long ago was this?" Adrien asked with Ben answering "about a week ago" Adrien pulled out a newspaper "you still read the newspaper?" Ben asked with Adrien responding "yeah, it's how I get my news" Ben quipped back "what? Does your TV have a dial too?" Adrien scoffed "okay, look here, this artifact was submitted to a museum two weeks ago, it's a glass tablet that has stayed intact despite being over ten thousand years old" Ben looked at the photo, the glass tablet was a mysticak purple, and the language on it was indiscernable "apparently the text changes every so ofted but it's always in a lagnuage no one can understand". Ben fiddled with his Miraculous "looks like I need to do some digging".


	28. Flux

_The same night of the Summit__, A woman stood infront of the Museum, a giant hole had been blasted through the door and the guards lie dead_

The woman entered and looked at the Glass Tablet "ah, the Ormious Tome, so they finally found you, once I decipher you all of time will be at my mercy, Reverse!" time suddenly reversed itself and she stood on the steps of the Museum, the hole has disappeared and the guards were unharmed "time itself is already becoming fluid with its presence here, I must decipher it soon". Ben and Adrien sat in the shop "how are we going to solve this?" Ben asked with Adrien thinking "okay, we'll use the Horse Miraculous to travel to France, there's someone there who is an expert on time travel and the like" Ben put on the Horse Miraculous and opened a portal "wait, how am I gonna communicate with anybody? I don't speak French" Adrien put his hand on his shoulder "don't worry, I'll do all the talking".

Adrien and Ben walked through "wow, it's as pretty as they say" Adrien motioned for Ben to transform in an alley, Ben nodded and did so "Sturn, Let's Hunt!" Beowulf came out of the alley "okay, what's next?" asked with Adrien pointing at a house "we pay a visit to an old friend". Adrien and Beowulf stood infront of the door with Adrien psyching himself up "okay, okay, it's been awhile but I'm sure she isn't pissed anymore" Beowulf hadn't seen Adrien this scared before, he also noticed a bunch of people staring and talking about him. Adrien smacked his cheeks and knocked in the door while bouncing on his toes "y'know what, maybe she's busy let's just go and-" the door suddenly opened and a woman stood there, her arms were covered in vibrant tattoos and she had a leather vest on that looked a bit beat up and jean shorts, her hair was fiery red and her eyes were a piercing blue "hey Alix, long time no-" Adrien was interrupted by a swift right hook to the jaw that knocked him out and then spoke to Beowulf in English "bring him inside, I'll listen to what you have to say" Beowulf picked up Adrien and carried him inside "so...where should I put him?" Beowulf asked with Alix responding "I don't care, prop him up somewhere" Beowulf put Adrien in a recliner chair and looked around, there was grafitti on the walls and assorted equipment used for tattooing strewn across various tables "soooo...how do you know Adrien?" Beowulf asked with Alix responding "what do you two want?" Beowulf stutteted out "w-well, Adrien said that you can help us with a problem of ours" Alix looked at Beowulf studying him "you had that Miraculous long?" Beowulf responded "not really, only about six months" Alix scoffed "six months? So you're babyfaced when it comes to this Hero thing huh?" Beowulf retorted "look, I may be new to this but I can hold my own and then some" Alix moved quickly getting right in Beowulf's face, Beowulf didn't flinch "hm, you're tough, Adrien picked good" Adrien finally woke up and breathed in and adjusted his jaw "ouch, jeez Alix, you couldn't warn a guy before you punch his lights out?" Alix shot Adrien a glare and then asked again "why are you here Agreste?" Adrien sighed "you know about that Glass Tablet that was just transferred to a Museum in New York?" Alix nodded "yeah, I've been following the coverage on it, what of it?" Beowulf stepped up "we think its been messing with time, fluxes, memories from other timelines making their way into this timeline" Alix thought for a bit "alright Agreste, I'll help, on one condition" Adrien felt a sense of dread come over him "what?" He asked.

Adrien and Alix stood infront of a building that had "Boulangerie" above the entrance "please don't make me do this Alix, I said I was sorry" Alix looked at him "I'm not the one that you should have apologised to, the person who you should apologise to is in there". Adrien felt his blood pressure drop as he grabbed the door handle and opened it, the sweet smell of bread and pastries made Adrien feel at ease, Adrien walked around but suddenly bumped into someone who dropped something "oh my goodness I'm so sorry I-" Adrien stopped when he saw her. Beowulf watched them in there "so, who's shop is this?" Beowulf asked with Alix responding "someone who got a raw deal courtesy of Adrien". Adrien bent down and picked up the macaroons that had fallen, the woman held the tray and picked them up aswell "I'm sorry" Adrien said with the woman responding "It's okay, I've always been a bit of a klutz" Adrien responded "no, I am really, really sorry, it was all my fault, I made a mistake but now I'm fixing it" the woman looked at him as if he was crazy "okay? they're just macaroons, by the way you look familiar, what's your name?" Adrien thought for a bit "Felix, call me Felix" the woman giggled "Marinette" she said before sticking her hand out, Adrien smiled and shook her hand.

Adrien stepped out with two bags full of pastries and breads "so? What happened?" Alix asked with Adrien responding "she didn't even recognise me" Adrien said while hanging his head down, Alix felt bad for him, she put her hand on his cheek "probably didn't because of this scraggily ass beard" Adrien and Alix laughed before a tear rolled down Adrien's cheek. Alix turned to Beowulf "okay, I'll help you guys" Alix pulled out a pocket watch "just get us back to New York and I'll work my magic" Beowulf put on the Horse Miraculous and took them all back to New York. Beowulf's stomach began to growl "I guess it's lunchtime, let's get something to eat first" Adrien said with Beowulf responding "how about pizza?" Alix's eyes lit up "Yes! let's do that!" Beowulf led them to Ray's Pizza, Ray was busy watching a soccer game to notice Beowulf and the others entering. Beowulf hit the bell and Ray responded "yeah, yeah, what'll it be?" Beowulf ordered "hey Ray, lemme get one pie with extra pepperoni and..." Beowulf thought for a couple of seconds which annoyed Ray "c'mon spit it oh..." Ray said as he turned around to see Beowulf "y'know what, make it two pies". Beowulf and the others discussed as they ate "so, when we get there I can stabilize the rifts and encase that Tablet in its own space in time" Beowulf bit into a slice "so...why do you need us to be there?" Alix responded "well, there is gonna be some complications, during the years of the team splitting up I tried to go solo and encountered a villain who had time powers, I thought I had imprisoned her for good but I can feel her influence already, his presence is making the rifts worse" Beowulf looked confused "what rifts?" Alix pointed at the street and Beowulf noticed that it was nighttime "whoa, what?" Alix smirked "see? You gotta be observant of these things".

Alix looked around "looks like time is fluxed beyond belief here" Beowulf pointed toward the Museum "let's fix this mess before we start seeing Dinosaurs in New York" Beowulf and the others made it to the Museum where Alix transformed "Fluff, Clockwise!" Adrien transformed aswell "Boggo, Rampage!" Beowulf, Bunnix, and Steer stood infront of the Museum which was beginning to warp "okay, we'll need this to protect ourselves from the changes in time" Bunnix said while pointing at her pocket watch Steer stepped forward okay, let's get in there and-" Steer suddenly vibrated and he turned into a Cat-Themed Superhero "fix this...what?" Cat Noir looked at Beowulf and Bunnix "wow, this is a bad time rift" Cat Noir stepped on his right foot "hey, my injury's gone and...my ring?" Cat Noir took off his ring and reverted back to Adrien, he was noticeably younger and his clothes were different "I can't believe it, I'm younger again and Plagg!" Plagg floated up "Adrien, where are we? We were just in Paris and-" Adrien hugged Plagg "I missed you buddy".

Adrien transformed and Bunnix lifted up her Miraculous "Time Field!" A large white dome surrounded the crew then disappeared, the hands of the Miraculous rotated to the top and began counting "that will protect us for five minutes, let's do what we need to do". The group entered the museum to see chaos, the artifacts were decaying rapidly then constructing as if they were being made, the guards were turning to dust then into infants then to middle aged, the building kept shifting from pristine to ruins. Beowulf smelt the air "someone's here with us" Bunnix pointed at the pedestal thay had the Tablet, a woman draped in purple garbs was standing chanting to the Tablet Bunnix summoned her weapon, an umbrella and pointed it at the woman "Chrona! I should've known!" Chrona turned to look at them "Bunnix...what a pleasure it is to see you again, and you brought friends...good" Chrona shot an energy blast from her hands at Beowulf, Beowulf jumped out of the way and Bunnix rushed slashing at Chrona with her umbrella, Chrona effortlessly dodged the strikes and blasted Bunnix away "with the Tome in my hand, I have control of every part of time, past, present, future, all of them I can see and change" Beowulf whipped his chain but it was caught by Chrona, Chrona yanked the chain pulling Beowulf toward her and trapping him in a bubble. Chrona then slammed the bubble on the ceiling then sent it crashing into the ground "I can see your every move, I saw this battle three minutes before you all got here" She then turned her head to dodge a thrust attack from Bunnix then shot her with a stream of purple energy that forced her to her knees "I know that this battle has you, the boy, and a crippled old man who can only use a charge that I can predict HAHAHAHA!" Cat Noir's voice pierces through the cackle of Chrona "that's where you're wrong! I'm not an old man anymore, Cataclysm!" Cat Noir touched the ground and a corrosive wave traveled all the way to Chrona's feet, the floor gave way causing Chrona to brace herself. Beowulf and Bunnix took this chance, both of them rushed infront of Chrona and reeled back punching her straight through the Museum wall.

Bunnix shook her hand "ouch, haven't punched someone that hard in awhile" Bunnix went over to the Tablet and surrounded it with a bubble causing the fluxes to stop, the guards returned to normal and Beowulf motioned for them to get out, they agreed clearly traumatized by the experience. Bunnix began to open the portal but was blindsided by a blast from Chrona who had recovered "you think you can stop me so easily?! Well let me show you why I'm the Master of Time!" Chrona began to float in the air and blasted all three of them with purple fire but was doing no damage, Bunnix got infront of Beowulf shielding him with her umbrella "that fire would've aged you to dust" Bunnix said while holding off the flame. Chrona flew through the flame and grabbed Bunnix by the neck "an eye for an eye Bunnix" Beowulf jumped above Bunnix but Chrona trapped him in a bubble and threw him into Cat Noir.

Chrona cracked a wicked smile and pulled the Tome to her, Chrona began to chant and a portal formed behind Bunnix and Chrona walked her into the portal "goodbye Little Rabbit" suddenly Bunnix' leg kicked out of the portal launching the Tome to Beowulf, Beowulf caught it and Bunnix came out of the portal wrestling with Chrona, Bunnix then threw her Pocket Watch at Beowulf who caught it "take the Tome and run! Burrow!" Bunnix shouted with a portal appearing where the Pocket Watch was. Beowulf looked at Cat Noir who gave him a nod of approval, Beowulf took a deep breath and jumped into the portal "No!" Chrona screamed before kicking Bunnix into the portal, Chrona looked at the spot where Beowulf teleported and began to wave her hands around and began to chant, suddenly a portal opened up and she stepped through leaving Cat Noir alone in the Museum, Beowulf landed on top of a skyscraper "okay, where or when am I?" Right as Beowulf said that a flaming plane crashed into the streets below, Beowulf heard multiple gunshots from the streets below. Beowulf looked down to see soldiers battling in the streets, Beowulf wasn't used to such carnage and his heart dropped when he saw the flag that a soldier was carrying "that's the Confederate Flag" Beowulf whispered.


End file.
